Why I Built My Blog with 5 Different Frameworks (and Why I’m Sticking with Astro)
Why I Built My Blog with 5 Different Frameworks (and Why I’m Sticking with Astro)
Over the past year, I’ve rebuilt my blog five times using five different frameworks. Some might call it overkill, but I call it curiosity (and maybe a little indecision). Each framework brought something unique to the table, and I learned a ton along the way. But after all this experimentation, I’ve finally settled on Astro—and this will be the last time I rebuild my blog from scratch. Here’s a quick rundown of my journey, what I liked (and didn’t like) about each framework, and why Astro is the one I’m sticking with.
1. Astro: My Final Choice
Astro is the framework I’m using now, and it’s the one I plan to stick with. If you’re familiar with TypeScript, you’ll feel right at home—Astro’s syntax is clean, static, and easy to understand. I love how it lets me write content in Markdown, sprinkle in components from any framework, and ship a super-fast, static site by default. For a blog, it’s honestly perfect: minimal JavaScript, great developer experience, and a growing ecosystem. I don’t need anything more.
2. Nuxt: A Close Second
I’ve always liked Vue, and Nuxt is a fantastic way to build with it. Nuxt can handle anything, from static sites to full-blown web apps. For a while, I considered sticking with Nuxt because of its flexibility and the power of Vue’s component system. But for a simple blog, Nuxt felt like more than I needed. If I ever build something more complex, Nuxt will be high on my list.
3. Hugo: Blazing Fast, But Different
Hugo is in a league of its own. It’s a static site generator written in Go, and it’s fast—like, blink-and-it’s-done fast. Hugo handles Markdown beautifully, but its templating system and overall approach are quite different from the JavaScript frameworks I’m used to. If you want pure speed and don’t mind learning a new way of doing things, Hugo is a great choice. For me, though, I missed the flexibility of component-based frameworks.
4. Next.js: Powerful, But Overkill
Next.js is the Swiss Army knife of web frameworks. You can build anything with it—blogs, e-commerce sites, dashboards, you name it. But for a simple blog, it’s honestly overkill. I found myself reaching for features I didn’t need, and the build times and complexity just weren’t worth it. If I ever need to scale up, Next.js is a great option, but for now, it’s more than I need.
5. Svelte: Close, But Not Quite
Svelte is a joy to write in, and it reminds me a lot of Next.js in terms of flexibility. But I found it harder (at least for me) to get things looking and working exactly how I wanted, especially compared to Astro. Svelte is powerful and fun, but for my blog, it just didn’t click the way Astro did.
The Takeaway
I designed each framework to have my blog look exactly the same. The difference is all under the hood: how easy it is to write, maintain, and deploy. After trying all five, Astro just feels right for me. It’s simple, fast, and does everything I need for a blog—nothing more, nothing less.
So, this is it: the last time I rebuild my blog from scratch. From now on, it’s Astro all the way.