NEXT.JS • PERFORMANCE • 7 min read
SSG vs ISR vs SSR: choosing the right rendering strategy
A decision framework for modern rendering. Pick the correct model per page type and business constraint.
The real decision is business-driven
Rendering is not a preference—it’s a tradeoff between freshness, speed, and complexity.
Choose per route, not per app.
A practical mapping
Marketing pages: SSG/ISR + CDN caching.
Catalog/collections: ISR with smart revalidation.
Checkout / account: SSR for real-time state.
Dashboards: SSR or CSR + API caching based on security/latency requirements.
Common mistakes
SSR everywhere (expensive and slower).
SSG everywhere (stale data and broken expectations).
No observability (you can’t improve what you don’t measure).