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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Astro Has a Free Static Site Framework — Ship Zero JavaScript by Default

#webdev #framework #javascript #performance

Astro is a content-focused web framework that ships zero JavaScript by default — your pages load instantly.

What You Get for Free

  • Zero JS by default — HTML-only output unless you need interactivity
  • Islands architecture — hydrate only interactive components
  • Any UI framework — use React, Vue, Svelte, Solid in the same project
  • Content Collections — type-safe Markdown/MDX with validation
  • SSR & SSG — static generation or server rendering, per page
  • View Transitions — smooth page transitions built-in
  • Image optimization — automatic responsive images
  • Middleware — auth, redirects, A/B testing

Quick Start 

npm create astro@latest
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---
// src/pages/index.astro
const posts = await getCollection('blog')
---
<html>
  <body>
    <h1>My Blog</h1>
    {posts.map(post => <a href={post.slug}>{post.data.title}</a>)}
    <!-- This page ships 0 KB of JavaScript -->
  </body>
</html>
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Why Developers Switch from Next.js

Next.js ships a React runtime even for static pages:

  • 0 KB JS — static pages have zero JavaScript overhead
  • Any framework — React component here, Svelte widget there
  • Faster builds — no webpack, uses Vite
  • Content-first — built for blogs, docs, marketing sites

A marketing site on Next.js loaded 180KB of JavaScript for static pages. After Astro: 0KB JS, same content, Lighthouse score went from 72 to 100.

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Custom project? Email me: spinov001@gmail.com — fast turnaround, fair pricing.

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