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When to Use SSR, CSR, and Everything in Between

Building web apps today feels like navigating a maze of acronyms. SSR, CSR, SSG, ISR - it’s enough to make your head spin. But here’s the thing: each of these rendering strategies exists for a reason, and picking the right one can make or break your user experience.

Let me walk you through what I’ve learned about these different approaches and when you’d actually want to use them.

Client-Side Rendering (CSR): The SPA Champion

CSR is what most of us think of when we hear “single-page application.” Your browser downloads a minimal HTML file, loads up JavaScript, and then builds the entire page on the fly.

Think of it like ordering furniture from IKEA - you get all the parts delivered, but you have to assemble everything yourself at home.

When CSR Makes Sense

Dashboard Applications: If you’re building something like a project management tool or analytics dashboard, CSR is often your best bet. Users are logged in, they expect interactions to be snappy, and SEO isn’t really a concern.

Highly Interactive Apps: Games, drawing tools, or anything with real-time updates work great with CSR. You need that JavaScript running anyway, so why not let it handle everything?

Admin Panels: Internal tools where SEO doesn’t matter and you want rich interactions throughout the app.

The Trade-offs

The biggest downside? That blank white screen while everything loads. On slower connections, users might be staring at nothing for several seconds. Search engines also struggle with CSR since there’s barely any HTML to crawl initially.

Server-Side Rendering (SSR): The Old-School Comeback

SSR generates complete HTML pages on your server before sending them to the browser. It’s like getting a fully assembled piece of furniture delivered to your door.

Where SSR Shines

E-commerce Sites: Product pages need to load fast and rank well in search results. SSR gives you both - users see content immediately, and Google can easily crawl your product descriptions.

Content-Heavy Sites: News sites, blogs, documentation - anywhere content is king and you need good SEO.

Marketing Pages: Landing pages need to load instantly to keep bounce rates low. SSR ensures your hero section appears immediately.

The Catch

Every page request hits your server, which means you need more server resources. Plus, once the page loads, you still need JavaScript to download and “hydrate” before the page becomes fully interactive. That can create some weird moments where buttons look clickable but don’t work yet.

Static Site Generation (SSG): The Speed Demon

SSG pre-builds all your pages at build time. It’s like having a warehouse full of pre-assembled furniture ready to ship instantly.

Perfect Use Cases

Documentation Sites: Your API docs don’t change often, so why generate them on every request? Build once, serve from a CDN, and watch those page load times hit single digits.

Marketing Websites: Company homepages, about pages, pricing - this content is relatively stable and benefits from blazing-fast loading.

Blogs: Unless you’re publishing multiple times per day, SSG works beautifully for blogs. Write in markdown, build to HTML, deploy to a CDN.

The Limitation

The clue is in the name - it’s static. If your content changes frequently or you need personalization, SSG becomes a maintenance headache.

Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR): The Best of Both Worlds?

ISR lets you have static pages that can be updated without rebuilding your entire site. Think of it as having some pre-built furniture, but being able to swap out pieces when needed.

When ISR Is Perfect

E-commerce with Frequent Updates: Product pages that need to be fast and SEO-friendly, but inventory and prices change regularly.

News Sites: Most articles can be static, but breaking news needs to appear quickly without a full site rebuild.

User-Generated Content: Forums or review sites where new content appears regularly, but most pages can remain static.

The Hybrid Approach: Mix and Match

Here’s where it gets interesting - you don’t have to pick just one. Modern frameworks let you use different strategies for different parts of your app.

You might have:

This is what companies like Vercel call “the spectrum of rendering,” and it’s probably the most practical approach for complex applications.

Making the Right Choice

Ask yourself these questions:

How important is SEO? If search traffic matters, lean toward SSR or SSG.

How often does your content change? Static content = SSG. Dynamic content = SSR or CSR.

Who are your users? Internal tools can get away with CSR. Public-facing sites usually can’t.

What’s your server budget? SSG is cheapest to serve, SSR is most expensive.

How complex are your interactions? Simple sites work fine with SSG/SSR. Complex apps often need CSR.

The Reality Check

In practice, most successful web apps today use a combination of these strategies. The key is understanding what each approach gives you and what it costs.

Don’t get caught up in the technical coolness factor. CSR isn’t inherently better than SSR, and SSG isn’t automatically the right choice just because it’s fast. The best rendering strategy is the one that serves your users and your business goals.

Start with your requirements, not your preferred framework. Once you know what you need, the technical choice becomes much clearer.

And remember - you can always start with one approach and evolve. The web development world moves fast, but your rendering strategy doesn’t have to be set in stone forever.