Next.js. Rebuilt for speed.

Name: PRNext
Author: Thomas

Keep building with React and the npm ecosystem.
PRNext brings a lighter server footprint with Rust at its core.

Get started View on GitHub

npm install @thomas.f/prnext@alpha

HIGHER PERFORMANCE FOR A BRIGHTER WEB

Built to go faster.

A Rust-powered runtime for your Next.js projects, designed for a smaller footprint.
Explore the balance between speed, memory and CPU.

+7.9%Throughput

−65.8%Memory usage

−30.2%CPU per response

Performance Benchmark

Next.js vs PRNext. One application, the same workload.

The default. A balance of memory, CPU and responsiveness.

Next.js and PRNext Balanced, dynamic streaming with 128 concurrent clients. Changes are relative to Next.js.
Metric	Next.js	PRNext	Change vs Next.js
Throughput Higher is better	673 req/s	726 req/s	+7.9%
Memory under load Lower is better	605 MiB	207 MiB	−65.8%
CPU per response Lower is better	2.442 ms	1.704 ms	−30.2%
Total CPU load Lower is better	164 %	124 %	−24.4%

Dynamic streaming · 128 concurrent clients · Apple M4

Same application & data. One workload, not a universal performance claim.

FUN FACT

You’re already using PRNext.

Tested on our VPS

This site runs on PRNext Balanced. We tested the same landing page with both engines on its VPS.

This website’s static-page benchmark on its VPS. PRNext Balanced compared with Next.js.
Metric	Next.js	PRNext	Change versus Next.js
Memory under load	138.8 MiB	12.4 MiB	−91%
CPU per response	2.358 ms	0.197 ms	−92%
Throughput	304 req/s	1,667 req/s	5.5×

1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · Static page · 16 concurrent clients

Measured Sep 28, 2026 · Snapshot, not live metrics

About this test

PRNext 0.1.0-alpha.1, Balanced, versus Next.js 16.3.6. Both production builds used the same landing-page source and served prerendered HTML. Content, SEO and interactions were checked on desktop and mobile before measuring. The full campaign completed 36 measurements and 200,858 responses without an error.

Figures above are medians of three 6-second runs with gzip and 16 concurrent clients, alternating the engines. Memory is server RSS under load. CPU per response measures processor work, not visitor wait time. Server CPU load was 32.1% for PRNext and 71.2% for Next.js, where 100% is one busy core.

Build time made a difference, too.

Building this site took 4.91 seconds with PRNext versus 28.32 seconds with Next.js on the same VPS — 82.7% less elapsed time, or about 5.8× faster in this observation.

These are the full production build command times, with dependencies already installed. One build from a clean output directory was recorded per engine, not an average of repeated builds. Compiler features and validation differ, so this is an observation for this site, not a general build-speed guarantee.

PRNext ran as a native server, with no React worker needed for this static page. It precompresses HTML at build time; Next.js compresses it when serving requests. PRNext’s compressed HTML was larger: 12.05 KB versus 9.23 KB. These results describe this static page, not dynamic SSR; a Next.js static export served by Nginx was not tested.

The VPS also hosts other applications. The load generator shared its single CPU, and certificate issuance briefly ran during the last repetition. Measurements exclude HTTPS and internet latency. Results are a dated benchmark of the landing page, not a live reading or a guarantee for every application.

GET STARTED

Installation

Install PRNext. Migrate your scripts. Run your app.

Node.js 22+Existing Next.js projectAlpha preview

1
Install the alpha
Run in your project folder. This alpha requires matching React 19.3.0 packages.
```
npm install @thomas.f/prnext@alpha react@19.3.0 react-dom@19.3.0 react-server-dom-webpack@19.3.0
```
2
Migrate your project
Update your dev, build and start scripts. PRNext backs up your package.json and lockfiles.
```
npx --no-install prn migrate
```
Add --dry-run to the migration command to preview its changes first.
3
Check your project. Start developing.
Run the preflight check, then start your app with PRNext.
```
npx --no-install prn check
npm run dev
```

Your application stays in place.

Next.js, your source files and next.config are kept. This is an early alpha with partial Next.js compatibility.

Build and run in production mode

Build first, then start the server. Balanced is the default profile. The alpha is intended for testing and feedback.

npm run build
npm run start

Customized scripts, workspaces and conflicting dependencies may need manual changes. Review the migration output before continuing.

GET IN TOUCH

Contact

Questions, suggestions, or anything else about PRNext.
I'd love to hear from you.

Email

hello@prnext.dev

Next.js. Rebuilt for speed.

Built to go faster.

Performance Benchmark

Installation

Install the alpha

Migrate your project

Check your project. Start developing.

Contact

Email

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