Why I Switched My Personal Site to Astro
I’ve rebuilt my personal site more times than I’d like to admit. Next.js, plain HTML, a short-lived Gatsby phase. Each time the framework became the project.
Astro is the first one that didn’t.
What’s Different
Astro ships zero JavaScript by default. It renders everything to static HTML at build time, and you only hydrate the components that actually need interactivity. For a personal site — mostly text, maybe a dark mode toggle — that’s exactly right.
The content collections API is clean. You define a Zod schema, drop Markdown files in a folder, and get typed, validated data back. No CMS, no database, no YAML foot-guns.
What I’d Warn About
The component model (slots, Astro.props, partials vs layouts) has a learning curve if you’re coming from React. The mental shift from “component tree” to “template with islands” takes a day or two.
Also, the ecosystem is smaller than Next’s. If you need a specific integration, you may be writing it yourself.
Verdict
For a personal site where the content is the point, Astro is excellent. Fast builds, fast output, and it gets out of the way.
