Welcome to Flowtide’s brand new website. I rewrote it using Astro to make it fast and lightweight. This article explains the reasons why I decided to use Astro.

Fast and Lightweight

Because Astro is a static-site generator, it compiles your files into static HTML at build time. Unlike other frameworks, Astro includes no additional JavaScript out-of-the-box. Since it creates static files, no server is needed, making deployment costs a lot cheaper.

Astro does have features to integrate server components into your app. This article will focus on only the static-site generation features.

Rich Blogging Features

One of the main reasons I chose Astro was their blogging features. Astro makes it easy to set up a blog with Markdown and an RSS feed. While I could have used vanilla HTML or Next.js, the developer experience and the lightweight website make it a clear winner.

Flowtide’s new blog will feature major releases and other technical content. You can subscribe via RSS here.

SEO

When you create a new Astro app, Astro automatically sets up the correct head tags (like canonical) for good SEO. It generally uses defaults that avoid common Google indexing errors.

In conclusion, Flowtide’s new website built with Astro aims to provide a prettier, faster user experience. Feel free to give me feedback on GitHub discussions.