Ishvendra Singh

Server Components in Next.js represent one of the most exciting evolutions in the React ecosystem.
They fundamentally change how we think about rendering by allowing React components to run only on the server, never shipping their JavaScript to the client.

This approach unlocks a new way of building modern web apps: faster, lighter, and more scalable.

What are Server Components?

Traditionally, React components are bundled and shipped to the browser. Even when rendered initially on the server (SSR), the component logic still ends up on the client for hydration.

With Server Components (RSC), the rules are different:

They execute only on the server.
The browser receives rendered HTML, not component logic.
No JavaScript for those components is shipped to the client.

Why does this matter?

🚀 Less JavaScript shipped

Since server components don’t hydrate on the client, they reduce your bundle size significantly.
Fewer KBs → faster load times → better Core Web Vitals.

🔎 Data fetching made simple

Server components can fetch directly from databases, APIs, or third-party services without needing useEffect or client-side fetch logic.
This eliminates waterfalls of requests and reduces duplication.

⚡ Smarter caching

Because the output of server components is just HTML, it can be cached at the edge (e.g., on Vercel’s CDN).
This means you can serve precomputed, dynamic content blazingly fast.

Example: A Blog List with Server Components

// app/components/BlogList.tsx
// This is a Server Component by default
export default async function BlogList() {
  const posts = await fetch('https://api.example.com/posts', {
    cache: 'no-store', // disable caching if you need fresh data
  }).then((res) => res.json());

  return (
    <ul>
      {posts.map((post) => (
        <li key={post.id}>{post.title}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}

The fetch call runs on the server.
The client receives only the HTML list, not the fetch logic.
No extra JavaScript for this component gets shipped to the browser.

Client Components vs. Server Components

Not everything can be a server component. Some logic still needs to run in the browser, for example:

Event listeners (onClick, onChange, etc.)
Browser APIs (localStorage, window, geolocation)
Interactive UI (modals, dropdowns, animations)

That’s where Client Components come in. In Next.js 13+, you can explicitly mark them with "use client;"

'use client';

export default function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Clicked {count} times</button>
  );
}

👉 The best practice is to keep most components as Server Components and only sprinkle Client Components where interactivity is needed.

Benefits at a glance

✅ Smaller bundles = faster sites

✅ Direct access to server-side data sources

✅ Less duplication between server and client

✅ Better caching strategies

✅ Simplifies app architecture

Trade-offs to be aware of

❌ Learning curve: mixing client and server components can be confusing at first.

❌ Some third-party libraries aren’t yet fully optimized for RSC.

❌ Debugging can feel different since code runs in two environments.

Closing Thoughts

Next.js Server Components aren’t just a performance trick, they represent a paradigm shift in how we design React apps.

By moving non-interactive logic to the server, we can ship less JavaScript, improve performance, and simplify data fetching. The result? Faster apps with cleaner architectures.

And this is just the beginning. In upcoming posts, we’ll dive into Partial Pre-Rendering (PPR) and how it complements Server Components to create seamless, scalable experiences.

Stay tuned 🚀

Deep Dive into Next.js Server Components: A case study