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For a new Next.js project, choose the App Router by default if you want the framework’s current React features, including Server Components and nested layouts. If you already have a stable Pages Router application, you can keep using it: Pages Router remains supported, and switching is not required. If its newer capabilities solve a real need, you can migrate gradually rather than rewrite the whole app.
How to choose between the routers
- Starting a new project: Choose App Router unless you have a specific reason to use Pages Router. Next.js recommends App Router for projects adopting its latest React features. Next.js’s App Router overview describes it as a file-system router using features such as Server Components, Suspense, and Server Functions.
- Maintaining an existing project: Staying on Pages Router is reasonable when its conventions work for your team and application. Next.js says Pages Router remains supported; migration is optional.
- Considering a migration: Move routes incrementally if App Router features justify the learning and implementation work. The Next.js 15 migration guide explains how the
appandpagesdirectories can coexist.
What changes between App Router and Pages Router?
Routes and shared layouts
Both routers use files and folders to define routes, but their conventions differ. In Pages Router, a page component in the pages directory maps to a route—for example, pages/about.js serves /about. See Pages Router Pages and Layouts.
App Router organizes routes under app. Folders represent route segments, and a page file makes a route publicly accessible. A layout file supplies shared UI for its segment and nested routes. App Router layouts preserve state, remain interactive, and do not rerender during navigation. See App Router Layouts and Pages.
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In App Router, pages and layouts are Server Components by default. Use a Client Component when a component needs state, event handlers, effects, custom hooks, or browser APIs such as window or localStorage. The framework’s server-first model supports server-side data access, keeping secrets out of client code, sending less JavaScript to the browser, and progressively streaming content. These are capabilities and use cases—not a guaranteed speedup for every application. See Server and Client Components.
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Data fetching
Pages Router offers page-level data-fetching functions such as getStaticProps, getServerSideProps, and getStaticPaths. Its documented approaches include static generation, server-side rendering, and incremental regeneration; see Pages Router Data Fetching.
With App Router, asynchronous Server Components can fetch data near the component that uses it. Caching and revalidation are configured through the APIs for the project’s Next.js version. Do not assume that cache behavior or settings translate directly from a Pages Router implementation; check the version-specific data-fetching guidance before migrating.
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Is App Router faster?
The official documentation reviewed does not provide a head-to-head benchmark establishing that either router is universally faster. App Router includes features that can affect an application’s rendering and client-side JavaScript, but the outcome depends on how the app is built and deployed. Treat performance as an application-specific question: measure the relevant pages and user flows in your own environment rather than choosing a router on an unsupported blanket speed claim.
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Migration changes more than the name of a directory. App Router introduces route and special-file conventions, root layouts, metadata APIs, error and not-found files, Route Handlers, and a different data-fetching model. Pages Router API routes can continue to work in the coexistence approach described by the migration guide.
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The linked migration instructions are specifically for Next.js 15 and were updated April 15, 2025. If you are working with a different release, use documentation for that version rather than assuming every command or API detail still applies. The migration guide also describes moving page by page, so you can limit the initial change to routes that benefit from App Router.
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A practical decision checklist
- Project stage: For a new app, decide whether you want to start with App Router conventions. For an established app, weigh any benefit against the cost of changing routes and workflows that already work.
- Rendering needs: Consider whether server-first composition and selective client-side interactivity fit the application.
- Shared UI: Choose App Router when persistent nested layouts are useful to the structure of your routes.
- Team experience: Account for time to learn new conventions and adapt existing data-fetching patterns.
- Performance goals: Compare measured results for your own app and deployment; the official documentation does not offer a universal winner.
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