127: Are People Leaving Next.js for TanStack Start?

Jan 12, 2026

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We’re back with our first episode of 2026, and prominent software developer and YouTuber, Theo Browne, made waves recently when he announced he’d migrated his T3 Chat app from the Next.js framework to TanStack Start. It isn’t that Next.js is bad, but that the requirements of T3 Chat were better supported by TanStack Start’s architecture, and Theo breaks down his evaluation process to reach that decision.

For the 10th year in a row, the JavaScript Rising Stars report drops, and the most popular projects (by GitHub stars) for the year include n8n (a workflow automation platform), react-bits (gorgeous animated React components), shadcn/ui (more UI components), and Excalidraw (virtual whiteboard for sketching and diagramming).

In less stellar news, the creator of the wildly popular CSS library Tailwind announced he’s had to lay off 75% of his engineering team because AI has killed traffic to its website (and by association, Tailwind’s commercial products that drive revenue). It was hard enough before the rise of AI for OSS to get funding, and this is just another cautionary tale that we need to support the people building the tools and products so many of us use every day in our jobs.

Timestamps:

1:54 - Theo moves off Next.js and resulting buzz
11:32 - A look at the 2025 JS rising stars
23:25 - Is AI hurting Tailwind?
31:03 - Lego smart bricks
35:45 - What’s making us happy

News:

Paige - Is AI killing OSS now? Tailwind thinks so
Jack - Theo moved off Next.js to TanStack Start and the internet is buzzing
TJ - 2025 rising stars

Lightning News:

Lego smart bricks

What Makes Us Happy this Week:

Thanks as always to our sponsor, the Blue Collar Coder channel on YouTube. You can join us in our Discord channel, explore our website and reach us via email, or talk to us on X, Bluesky, or YouTube.