Sitecore Astro SDK — A case study by EXDST

The problem

Sitecore + Next.js is the default.
The default isn't always the best.

For content-heavy sites

Sitecore's official headless story is Next.js — JSS, then Content SDK. It works, but it ships React to the browser whether the page needs it or not. On marketing sites, blog estates, and multilingual brand portals, that's wasted bytes on every visit.

Astro renders to HTML by default and only hydrates the islands that actually need JavaScript. For Sitecore content sites that's a Lighthouse jump and seconds off LCP — the difference between a fast page and a slow one.

JS-by-default

Heavy bundles

Slow LCP

Expensive hosting

What we built

One framework, both Sitecore stacks.
Faster on every page.

Two open-source SDKs with full feature parity to the Next.js reference. We proved it twice — on the 140-page Sitecore Verticals demo (JSS) and on all four Sitecore Content SDK starter sites (article, location, product, skatepark) ported to Astro and benchmarked head-to-head with Sitecore's own Next.js Content SDK starter.

Capabilities

Everything Next.js can do.
In Astro.

Every Sitecore feature your editors and developers depend on, ported to Astro. Click a tab to see how it works.

Render <Text>, <RichText>, <Image>, <Date>, <Link>, <File>, <Number>, <Checkbox> on any page — the same field API your dev team already knows from JSS/Content SDK.

Field components are edit-mode aware out of the box: in Pages or Experience Editor they render the editing chrome, in production they render clean HTML. <AstroImage> takes it further — Sitecore media gets piped through Astro's image service for responsive variants, lazy loading, and image optimization without a single line of glue code.

Migrating an existing React component? Copy the field bindings, swap React syntax for Astro, ship.

10 field types Editor-safe Astro-native

Fields

Text
single-line and multi-line text fields
RichText
WYSIWYG content with HTML output
Image
responsive Sitecore media
AstroImage
Astro-optimised image with image service
Link
internal, external, and media links
Date
formatted Sitecore date fields

Results

Same Sitecore content. Half the load time.
Every Lighthouse run.

+30

Lighthouse Perf, mobile

Sitecore Astro 91 vs Sitecore Next.js Content SDK 61, averaged across 17 pages over 68 Lighthouse runs.

3.2 s

Faster LCP

Sitecore Astro 2.96s vs Sitecore Next.js 6.16s on mobile — the same Sitecore Content SDK pages, two frameworks.

858 ms

Less main-thread blocking

Total Blocking Time on mobile: Astro 170ms vs Next.js 1,028ms. Editors hit Save, users feel the difference.

"Astro was, Astro is, and Astro will be the way to get the most performant Sitecore websites. There are still no competitors who can get results similar to it."

Anton Tishchenko

CTO, EXDST

What's changing

Content SDK is the future.
We already shipped Astro for it.

Sitecore is steering SitecoreAI customers from JSS toward the lighter Content SDK — fewer dependencies, faster cold starts, less surface area to maintain.

We saw it coming. Our Astro Content SDK starter shipped alongside our JSS Astro SDK, so XM/XP and SitecoreAI customers get the same Astro speed advantage from day one.

Pick whichever fits your project — JSS for XM and XP, Content SDK for SitecoreAI. Both ship as Astro sites. Both outperform Next.js.

Recognition

Selected.
Astro Agency Partner.

Astro launched its Agency Partner Program in April 2025 — a vetted list of agencies that build production-grade Astro at scale. EXDST was selected at launch, on the strength of our open-source Sitecore-Astro work.

Read the announcement

Sitecore Astro SDK — Astro Agency Partner

Get started

An easy start for
Sitecore on Astro.

Pick the SDK that matches your Sitecore stack and run two commands. Both ship Astro projects you can deploy to Vercel, Netlify, or your own infrastructure.

View on GitHub Talk to the engineers

RichText.astro

---
import RichText from "@exdst-sitecore-content-sdk/astro/components/RichText.astro";
import type { Field, ComponentProps } from "@exdst-sitecore-content-sdk/astro";

interface RichTextProps extends ComponentProps {
  fields: { Text: Field<string> };
}

const { params, fields } = Astro.props as RichTextProps;
---

<div class={`component rich-text ${params.styles}`} id={params.RenderingIdentifier}>
  <RichText field={fields.Text} />
</div>

Avg Lighthouse · Desktop: 97 / 100
Avg Lighthouse · Mobile: 91 / 100
Avg LCP · Desktop: 0.88 s
Avg LCP · Mobile: 2.96 s
Avg FCP · Desktop: 0.77 s
Avg FCP · Mobile: 1.78 s
Sitecore stacks: XM · XP · SitecoreAI (XM Cloud)
License: Apache 2.0

Pick your SDK

# XM / XP
@astro-sitecore-jss/astro-sitecore-jss

# SitecoreAI (XM Cloud)
@exdst-sitecore-content-sdk/astro

Scaffold the project

# XM / XP
npx @astro-sitecore-jss/create-astro-sitecore-jss@latest

# SitecoreAI (XM Cloud)
npx @exdst-sitecore-content-sdk/create-astro

Or clone the starter

# XM / XP
git clone https://github.com/exdst/jss-astro-public

# SitecoreAI (XM Cloud)
git clone https://github.com/exdst/astro-xmcloud-starter-js

Connect Sitecore

# .env
SITECORE_API_HOST=...
SITECORE_API_KEY=...
SITECORE_SITE_NAME=...

Run dev or build

npm run dev   # http://localhost:4321
npm run build # static or hybrid output

Build journal

Read every step.

Talk to us

Your Sitecore site,
running on Astro,
next quarter.

Send a note. We'll come back with a phased plan — pick a representative page or template, port it to Astro, measure the Lighthouse delta on your real content, decide what to roll out next.

Astro for Sitecore.
Faster than Next.js. Built by EXDST.

Sitecore + Next.js is the default.
The default isn't always the best.

One framework, both Sitecore stacks.
Faster on every page.

Everything Next.js can do.
In Astro.

Same Sitecore content. Half the load time.
Every Lighthouse run.

Content SDK is the future.
We already shipped Astro for it.

Selected.
Astro Agency Partner.

An easy start for
Sitecore on Astro.

Read every step.

Video: Sitecore Astro Demo Website

Sitecore Astro JSS SDK vs Sitecore Content SDK

EXDST Astro Partnership

Sitecore JavaScript SDK for Astro: Release 1.0.1

Sitecore Astro Verticals Demo Website

Verticals Demo: Performance

Verticals Demo: Feature Comparison with Next.js

Verticals Demo: Next.js vs Astro Components

Verticals Demo: Running Locally

Verticals Demo: Running on Sitecore Demo Portal

Verticals Demo: The Process

Deploy Astro to XM Cloud

Astro + React + Angular together

Migration of Sitecore React Website to Astro

Migration of Sitecore Vue Website to Astro

Creating Your First Sitecore Astro Rendering

Starting Your First Sitecore Astro Project

Sitecore XM Cloud and Astro Web Framework

Interactive Angular Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Interactive Vue Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Interactive React Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Sitecore JavaScript SDK for Astro

Your Sitecore site,
running on Astro,
next quarter.

Thank you!

Astro for Sitecore. Faster than Next.js. Built by EXDST.

Sitecore + Next.js is the default. The default isn't always the best.

Same Sitecore content. Half the load time.Every Lighthouse run.

Content SDK is the future. We already shipped Astro for it.

Selected. Astro Agency Partner.

An easy start for Sitecore on Astro.

Video: Sitecore Astro Demo Website

Sitecore Astro JSS SDK vs Sitecore Content SDK

EXDST Astro Partnership

Sitecore JavaScript SDK for Astro: Release 1.0.1

Sitecore Astro Verticals Demo Website

Verticals Demo: Performance

Verticals Demo: Feature Comparison with Next.js

Verticals Demo: Next.js vs Astro Components

Verticals Demo: Running Locally

Verticals Demo: Running on Sitecore Demo Portal

Verticals Demo: The Process

Deploy Astro to XM Cloud

Astro + React + Angular together

Migration of Sitecore React Website to Astro

Migration of Sitecore Vue Website to Astro

Creating Your First Sitecore Astro Rendering

Starting Your First Sitecore Astro Project

Sitecore XM Cloud and Astro Web Framework

Interactive Angular Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Interactive Vue Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Interactive React Islands with Sitecore and Astro

Sitecore JavaScript SDK for Astro

Your Sitecore site, running on Astro,next quarter.

Astro for Sitecore.
Faster than Next.js. Built by EXDST.

Sitecore + Next.js is the default.
The default isn't always the best.

Same Sitecore content. Half the load time.
Every Lighthouse run.

Content SDK is the future.
We already shipped Astro for it.

Selected.
Astro Agency Partner.

An easy start for
Sitecore on Astro.

Your Sitecore site,
running on Astro,
next quarter.