Vue SSR Frameworks

Vue server-side rendering makes your app SEO-friendly by shipping HTML instead of blank pages. But you'll need a framework—manual SSR setups are complex and error-prone.

45% of Vue developers now use SSR (State of Vue 2025)—up from 31% in 2021. The ecosystem offers four main options.

Framework Comparison

Download stats show dominance: Nuxt has 937k weekly npm downloads vs Quasar's 162k (npm trends).

Nuxt

Nuxt is the Vue equivalent of Next.js. Convention-over-configuration file routing, automatic code splitting, and a rich module ecosystem.

Why Nuxt for SEO:

• SSR, SSG, or hybrid per page—ship HTML however you need it
• Module ecosystem handles sitemaps, robots.txt, OG images without config
• Prerendering for static hosting (Netlify, Cloudflare Pages)
• Active development and large community

When to use:

• Content-heavy sites (blogs, docs, marketing)
• Apps needing both public SEO pages and auth-protected areas
• Teams wanting "it just works" defaults

When not to:

• Mobile/desktop apps (Quasar better)
• Maximum control needed (Vite SSR better)
• Static docs only (VitePress simpler)

Quasar

Quasar is a complete framework for building cross-platform apps from one codebase—web (SPA/SSR/PWA), mobile (iOS/Android), and desktop (Electron).

Why Quasar for SEO:

• SSR mode ships full HTML for search engines
• Built-in component library (faster dev, consistent UI)
• PWA takeover after hydration for offline support

When to use:

• Multi-platform projects (web + native mobile)
• Teams wanting pre-built UI components
• Projects needing offline-first PWA features

When not to:

• Web-only projects (Nuxt has better ecosystem)
• Need for Nuxt's rich plugin system (plugin gap noted by developers)
• Minimal UI framework constraints wanted

Performance note: Quasar's SSR adoption lags Nuxt (comparison shows Nuxt 6x more popular). Module ecosystem smaller—fewer integrations for SEO tools like auto-generated sitemaps.

Vite SSR

Vite's native SSR API is a low-level solution for framework authors and developers wanting complete control.

Why Vite SSR:

• No abstraction—full control over SSR behavior
• Works with any server (Express, Fastify, Cloudflare Workers)
• Can integrate with existing backends

When to use:

• Building your own framework
• Migrating existing app with complex server setup
• Need precise control over rendering pipeline

When not to:

• Building typical web app (Nuxt/Quasar faster)
• Team unfamiliar with SSR internals
• Want batteries-included solutions

Vue's official docs recommend Nuxt over manual Vite SSR for most projects. The low-level API is "meant for library and framework authors."

VitePress

VitePress is a static site generator optimized for documentation and content-focused sites.

Why VitePress for SEO:

• Prerendered HTML at build time (perfect for search engines)
• Fast page loads—minimal JavaScript
• Markdown-based content (simple authoring)
• Used by Vite, Vue, VueUse, Pinia docs

When to use:

• Documentation sites
• Blogs, marketing sites
• Content rarely changes
• No dynamic user data needed

When not to:

• Need dynamic SSR (user-specific data)
• Building web apps with auth
• E-commerce or dashboards

VitePress pre-renders everything during build using Vue's SSR capabilities. Zero runtime SSR overhead.

Decision Matrix

Start with this:

Is it docs/blog only?
├─ Yes → VitePress
└─ No → Does it need mobile/desktop apps?
    ├─ Yes → Quasar
    └─ No → Do you need SSR?
        ├─ Yes → Nuxt
        └─ No → SPA is fine

When SEO matters most:

1. Nuxt — Best ecosystem, most SEO modules available
2. VitePress — Perfect HTML, fastest loads (if static fits)
3. Quasar — Good SSR, but fewer SEO integrations
4. Vite SSR — Manual everything, including SEO

Framework Details

Each approach has different implications for SEO implementation:

Nuxt Implementation

<script setup>
// Meta tags just work
useSeoMeta({
  title: 'Page Title',
  description: 'Page description',
  ogImage: '/og-image.jpg'
})
</script>

Modules handle sitemap generation, robots.txt, schema.org automatically.

Quasar Implementation

// quasar.config.js
module.exports = {
  ssr: {
    pwa: true // PWA takeover after hydration
  }
}

Need to manually configure meta tags per page. Fewer pre-built SEO tools compared to Nuxt.

Vite SSR Implementation

// server.js - you write everything
import { renderToString } from 'vue/server-renderer'

app.get('*', async (req, res) => {
  const html = await renderToString(createApp())
  res.send(`<!DOCTYPE html>${html}`)
})

Complete control means complete responsibility for SEO implementation.

VitePress Implementation

---
title: Page Title
description: Page description
---

# Content

Just write markdown.

Meta tags and SEO handled automatically from frontmatter.

Migration Paths

From Vue SPA → SSR:

• Nuxt easiest migration—similar patterns to Vue Router
• Quasar if targeting mobile too
• Check SPA SEO guide for SPA-specific concerns

From manual Vite SSR:

• Nuxt for production stability
• Vite SSR if custom server logic required

From VitePress:

• Nuxt when outgrowing static (need auth, user data, dynamic content)

Performance Comparison

All frameworks support modern optimizations—code splitting, lazy loading, tree shaking. Differences are in defaults and ease:

Build size — VitePress smallest (static), Nuxt/Quasar similar, Vite SSR depends on your setup

Server response — SSR frameworks (Nuxt, Quasar) slower first byte than static (VitePress), but serve personalized content

Hydration — Nuxt and Quasar optimize automatically. Vite SSR requires manual optimization.

2025 framework performance focuses on reactivity models over SSR overhead—all Vue-based frameworks benefit from Vue 3.5's fine-grained reactivity.

Using Nuxt?

If you're using Nuxt, check out Nuxt SEO which automates most SEO tasks.

Learn more about SSR in Nuxt →