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How kitr compares

Where kitr overlaps with Next.js, Remix and React Router, TanStack Start, Expo, AdonisJS and Laravel, and when to pick each.

kitr is young. It is version 0.1, it is not on npm yet, and it has a small community. The frameworks below are older and better proven. This page says where kitr overlaps with each, where it differs, and when the other one is the better choice. If you are coming from Next.js, Migrate from Next.js maps each Next.js idea to its kitr equivalent.

Next.js

Both build React apps with server rendering, static output and an API layer. Next.js is one framework with its own router, bundler and server conventions, and a large ecosystem and hosting story around it. kitr is a set of packages over TanStack Router, Query and Start, and Vite, with one CLI to add and wire them. Pages are listed on a route table in app/routes.ts, not placed as files in folders. Pick Next.js when you want the most widely used React framework and its hosting options. Pick kitr when you want the pieces to be separate libraries you can leave.

Remix and React Router 7

Both lean on web standards and let a route own its data loading. React Router 7 is also a router you can adopt one page at a time. kitr uses TanStack Router, where loaders, search params and links are typed, and puts query caching and mutation effects on top. kitr also covers the server, forms, auth and mail through the same CLI. Pick React Router when you want a focused router with a long track record. Pick kitr when you want the surrounding conventions as well.

TanStack Start

This is the closest relative. kitr's web() platform uses TanStack Start for server rendering, and kitr re-exports TanStack Router and Query, so TanStack knowledge carries over. Start gives you the framework core. kitr adds a project layout, the kitrrc.ts wiring, a package system with generators and a CLI. If you want TanStack Start and make your own choices about everything around it, use Start directly. If you want those choices made and written down, kitr is a layer on top.

Expo

Both aim at one codebase for several platforms. Expo builds React Native apps that render native views, with a mature toolchain and a large library of native modules. kitr's mobile and desktop platforms (Capacitor, Electron and Tauri) wrap your web app in a native shell that shows it in a web view. They are previews today. Pick Expo when you need native views, platform-specific interaction and a proven build service. Pick kitr when your app is a web app that you also want in a shell, and a web view is acceptable.

AdonisJS

kitr borrows from Adonis: explicit wiring in a config file, providers with a lifecycle, a container, controllers and generators. The server kit has Adonis-style controllers on h3. Adonis is a mature, batteries-included Node framework with its own ORM, auth and mail, and its documentation is the model for kitr's. kitr's server side is younger and lighter, and its front end is React with TanStack. Pick Adonis for a backend with a long-lived, full-featured ecosystem. Pick kitr when the same project also has a React front end and you want one CLI for both.

Laravel

Laravel is the reference point for a framework with an opinion on everything: queues, mail, auth, a command line. kitr shares the idea that a CLI and fixed conventions beat assembling libraries by hand, and it has packages for mail, jobs, cache and flags. Laravel is PHP, with years of production use, a first-party auth system and hosting products. kitr is TypeScript, has no auth server of its own, and some packages (jobs, uploads) are previews. Pick Laravel for a PHP team that wants a complete, proven stack. Pick kitr when your team works in TypeScript end to end.

At a glance

kitr Next.js Remix / React Router 7 TanStack Start Expo AdonisJS Laravel
Routing A route table in app/routes.ts, over TanStack Router Files in folders Route modules, config or files TanStack Router, files by default File-based, in the Expo router Route file in code Route file in code
Data loading Query contracts and loaders, cache effects Server components and fetch Loaders and actions Loaders and server functions Your choice of library Controllers Controllers
Server server() on h3, or Start Built in Built in Built in Not the focus Core of the framework Core of the framework
Native apps Previews: web view shells No No No Yes, React Native No No
How opinions are enforced kitr add, generators, kitr doctor, AGENTS.md Conventions and lint rules Conventions Few Templates and config plugins Generators and conventions Conventions and tooling
Leaving Rewrite imports to the upstream libraries (kitr eject all prints it) Rewrite to another framework Rewrite loaders and routes Small Rewrite native parts Rewrite to another backend Rewrite to another backend

Cells for other frameworks are general. Check their own documentation for current behaviour.

What kitr does not have

  • No published npm release yet.
  • No auth server. The auth package works with the one you run.
  • Native shells are previews, and they are web views, not React Native.
  • The stack is new, so there are fewer answers online and fewer people who know it.

Next steps