Why I Moved from Next.js to TanStack Start

I've shipped production apps with Next.js for years. It's a great framework, and I still recommend it often. But for a recent greenfield project I decided to try TanStack Start, and I've been pleasantly surprised.

What drew me in

TanStack Router's type-safe routing is genuinely excellent. Autocomplete on route params, search params, and navigate calls feels like a superpower once you've used it. The type errors you get before something breaks in the browser save real time.

The rough edges

The ecosystem is younger. Some integrations you'd grab as a Next.js plugin require more wiring. The docs are good but not as deep as Next.js's years of accumulated guides and community answers. Expect to read source code occasionally.

Why I'm staying

The mental model maps closely to how React is meant to work. Server functions, loaders, and the router compose cleanly together without the "this only works on the server" footguns I've hit in Next.js. For teams who already know React deeply, it clicks quickly.

If you're comfortable with the ecosystem being early-stage and want first-class TypeScript throughout your routing layer, TanStack Start is worth a serious look.