What does a Next.js development service actually include?
A Next.js development engagement typically covers architecture design, frontend and API route development, rendering strategy selection (SSR, SSG, or ISR), performance optimisation, testing, deployment configuration, and handover documentation.
At Netguru, the exact scope depends on your starting point. Greenfield projects begin with discovery and architecture. Existing applications may need an audit first. Team augmentation engagements focus on embedding engineers into your current workflow rather than taking over delivery.
How do I hire a Next.js development agency or consultant?
Start by clarifying what you need: a full build, a migration, performance work, or additional engineering capacity. That shapes whether you need a project-based agency or individual contractors.
Evaluate agencies on their Next.js-specific experience — not just general React work. Ask to see examples of App Router projects, edge deployments, or ISR implementations. Check whether their engineers have worked with the version of Next.js you are targeting, since the framework has changed significantly across major versions.
Finally, assess how they communicate. A credible partner will ask hard questions about your architecture before quoting a price.
What is the difference between SSR, SSG, and ISR in Next.js?
Server-side rendering (SSR) generates each page on the server at request time. Use it for pages that show personalised or frequently changing data — dashboards, account pages, or search results.
Static site generation (SSG) builds pages at deploy time and serves them from a CDN. Use it for content that rarely changes — marketing pages, documentation, or blog posts — where maximum speed matters.
Incremental static regeneration (ISR) combines both approaches. Pages are pre-built statically but regenerated in the background after a set interval, so you get CDN-level speed with reasonably fresh content. It suits e-commerce product pages, news articles, and similar content that changes on a predictable schedule.
The right choice depends on your data freshness requirements and the cost of stale content for each specific page, not a single rule applied across your whole application.
How long does a Next.js migration from Create React App take?
Timeline depends on the size and complexity of your existing codebase. A straightforward CRA application with a few dozen routes and no complex server-side logic can typically be migrated in four to eight weeks. Larger applications with custom webpack configurations, complex state management, or deep third-party integrations take longer.
We use an incremental migration approach where possible, running Next.js alongside your existing app and moving routes across gradually. This keeps your product live throughout the process and reduces risk compared to a full rewrite.
What engagement models does Netguru offer for Next.js projects?
We work in three main ways depending on your situation:
- Project-based delivery: We take responsibility for scoping, building, and delivering a defined product or feature set. Best for teams that want a clear outcome without managing day-to-day engineering.
- Team augmentation: We embed one or more senior Next.js engineers into your existing team. They work in your sprints, your tools, and your codebase. Best for teams with strong product direction but a gap in frontend capacity or Next.js expertise.
- Consulting and architecture review: We assess your current Next.js setup, identify performance or architectural issues, and produce a prioritised recommendations report. Best for teams that can execute internally but want an outside perspective before committing to a direction.
Why choose Next.js over a plain React application?
A plain React application runs entirely in the browser, which means users see a blank page until JavaScript downloads, parses, and executes. For content-heavy or public-facing products, that hurts both user experience and search engine visibility.
Next.js adds server-side rendering and static generation on top of React, so pages arrive with content already in the HTML. This improves Core Web Vitals scores, reduces time to first meaningful paint, and makes pages indexable by search engines without additional configuration.
Beyond rendering, Next.js provides a file-based router, built-in image optimisation, font loading controls, and API routes — features that a plain React project would require separate libraries and configuration to replicate. For most production web applications, that built-in structure saves significant setup time and reduces long-term maintenance overhead.