Astro vs SvelteKit

A content-first islands framework versus a full-stack Svelte app framework — pick based on whether the deliverable is a site or an app.

SvelteKit

The fastest way to build Svelte apps with server rendering

Visit website

See alternatives →

Astro

The web framework for content-driven websites

Visit website

See alternatives →

Our take

Pick Astro when the deliverable is content-heavy — marketing pages, docs, blogs — and you want zero JS by default with islands only where they earn it. Pick SvelteKit when you're building an actual app with routing, server endpoints, and stateful UI, and you want Svelte all the way down rather than mixing in component frameworks.

How we evaluate →

Get the next comparison in your inbox

Weekly digest — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

At a Glance

Attribute	SvelteKit	Astro
Category	Frontend Framework	Frontend Framework
Pricing Model	open-source	open-source
Starting Price	Free	Free
Free Tier	Yes	Yes
Open Source	Yes	Yes
Platforms	—	web

Community Popularity

SvelteKit

Astro

Key Features

SvelteKit

No features listed.

Astro

content-driven sites
fast marketing sites
islands architecture

Pros & Cons

SvelteKit

Pros

Svelte's compile-step approach produces the smallest client bundle of any major framework — less JavaScript shipped means faster pages+172
The reactivity model is so simple that you can onboard developers who've never used Svelte in a single afternoon+158
Form actions are the cleanest implementation of server mutations in any web framework — progressive enhancement comes for free+143
The file-based routing with layout inheritance is intuitive and doesn't require any configuration to get right+129

Cons

The smaller ecosystem means some UI component libraries, auth solutions, and integrations aren't as mature as their React equivalents

More comparisons featuring SvelteKit

Framework

Next.js vs SvelteKit

Next.jsvs

SvelteKit

Framework

Next.js vs Remix vs SvelteKit

Next.jsvs

Remixvs

SvelteKit

More comparisons featuring Astro

Framework

Next.js vs Astro

Next.js

Looking for alternatives?

Astro

Pros

The default output is static HTML with zero JavaScript unless you explicitly add interactive components — pages are fast by default+176
Islands architecture lets you use React, Vue, or Svelte components side by side in the same project without committing to one framework+163
Content Collections with TypeScript validation for Markdown files is the cleanest content management DX for developer blogs and docs+148
Build output is genuinely tiny — a blog or marketing site built in Astro will score higher on Core Web Vitals than any SPA alternative+134
The zero-JS default approach means great SEO out of the box without any configuration or SSR tricks+119

Cons

Interactive app-like features (auth flows, user dashboards) are awkward to build because the framework is optimized for content sites+142
Component hydration has edge cases where partial hydration doesn't behave as expected and debugging the island boundaries is confusing+118
Smaller community than Next.js means fewer third-party plugins and less community support on specific integration problems+93

See full review of Astro→