🧠 Introduction

If you’ve been working with React for a while, you’ve probably felt this at some point:

“React is great… but wiring routing, data fetching, SSR, APIs, and TypeScript together still feels messy.”

That’s exactly the problem TanStack Start is trying to solve.

No marketing fluff. No over-complicated theory.

🚀 Getting Started with TanStack Start

Creating a TanStack Start app is simple.

npm create @tanstack/start@latest
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

🧪 Folder Structure

There are 2 required files for TanStack Start usage:

1. The router configuration

2. The root of your application

Once configuration is done, we'll have a file tree that looks like the following:

.
├── src/
│   ├── routes/
│   │   └── `__root.tsx`
│   ├── `router.tsx`
│   ├── `routeTree.gen.ts`
├── `vite.config.ts`
├── `package.json`
└── `tsconfig.json`

What Is TanStack Start?

TanStack Start is a full-stack React framework.

That means:

• You can build frontend + backend logic together

• You get routing, data loading, server-side rendering (SSR) out of the box

• Everything is type-safe using TypeScript

TanStack Start is built on top of two powerful tools:

• TanStack Router → handles routing and data loading

• Vite → makes development fast and smooth

If Next.js feels too opinionated for you, TanStack Start feels more like:

“Here are powerful tools — build your app your way.”

How TanStack Start Works (Big Picture)

Here’s the mental model you should have:

1. You define routes in code

2. Each route can:

   • Load data

   • Handle params

   • Render UI

3. The same route works for:

   • Client navigation

   • Server rendering

   • Streaming HTML

4. Everything is fully typed

So instead of jumping between folders, APIs, and config files — you stay inside one predictable system.

Routing: The Heart of TanStack Start

• Routes are fully typed

• Params are type-safe

• Routes can be composed

• No “magic folder rules”

import { createRoute } from '@tanstack/react-router'

export const BlogRoute = createRoute({
  path: '/blog',
  component: BlogPage,
})

Data Fetching (The Right Way)

• No prop drilling

• No duplicated API calls

• Data is always available before render

• TypeScript knows exactly what posts is

Each route can define its own data loader:

export const BlogRoute = createRoute({
  path: '/blog',
  loader: async () => {
    return fetch('/api/posts').then(res => res.json())
  },
  component: BlogPage,
})

Then inside your component:

function BlogPage() {
  const posts = BlogRoute.useLoaderData()
  return <PostList posts={posts} />
}

Server-Side Rendering & Streaming

TanStack Start supports SSR by default.

But it also supports streaming SSR, which means:

• The page starts rendering immediately

• Parts of the UI load as data becomes available

• Users see content faster

For blogs, dashboards, and SaaS apps — this is a huge UX win.

Server Functions & API Routes

You don’t need a separate Express or Node server.

You can write backend logic directly inside your project:

export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const body = await req.json()
  return new Response(
    JSON.stringify({ success: true })
  )
}

Perfect for:

• Forms

• Authentication

• Database calls

• Internal APIs

Everything stays in one codebase.

⚖️ TanStack Start vs Next.js (Quick Comparison)

Choose TanStack Start if you:

• Want the absolute best type safety for routing

• Need deployment flexibility without vendor lock-in

• Want fine-grained control over SSR behavior (selective SSR per route)

• Already use TanStack Query or other TanStack libraries

Choose Next.js if you:

• Want to use React Server Components today with full ecosystem support

• Are deploying to Vercel or want a Vercel-optimized experience

• Prefer convention over configuration for faster initial development

• Want automatic image optimization and font loading

Pros of TanStack Start

Here’s what TanStack Start does really well:

• ✅ Excellent Type Safety — Routes, params, loaders, and APIs are fully typed end to end.

• ✅ Flexible Architecture — You control the structure instead of following rigid conventions.

• ✅ Clean Data Flow — Data stays with routes, not scattered across components.

• ✅ No Platform Lock-In — Deploy to Node, serverless, or edge runtimes freely.

• ✅ Modern React Experience — Fast, clean, and intentional development powered by modern tooling.

Cons of TanStack Start

Let’s be honest — it’s not perfect.

• ❌ Smaller Ecosystem — Fewer plugins, templates, and community examples compared to Next.js.

• ❌ Learning Curve — Code-based routing can feel unfamiliar at first.

• ❌ Still Evolving — Currently in Release Candidate, with ongoing improvements and changes.

• ❌ Less Beginner Friendly — Better suited for developers already comfortable with React and TypeScript.