React vs Next.js: Which Framework Should You Choose?

React and Next.js are both powerful tools for building modern web applications, but they serve different purposes and excel in different scenarios.\\n\\n**React** is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It gives you complete flexibility in how you structure your application, handle routing, and manage state. React is perfect when you need full control over your architecture or when building single-page applications (SPAs) that don't require server-side rendering.\\n\\n**Next.js** is a React framework that adds powerful features like server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), file-based routing, and API routes out of the box. It's ideal for SEO-critical applications, content-heavy websites, and projects that benefit from improved performance through SSR.\\n\\n**When to choose React:** Building SPAs, need maximum flexibility, integrating with existing build tools, or creating component libraries.\\n\\n**When to choose Next.js:** SEO is critical, need server-side rendering, want built-in routing and optimization, or building full-stack applications with API routes.