Next.js Blog Kit
Free
New
Next.js Blog Kit
MDX-powered blog with full SEO, dark mode, RSS feed, reading time, and syntax highlighting. Deploy to Vercel in one click.
Next.jsMDXTailwind
FreeBlog templates
Developer blogs,
that rank.
MDX with React components, dark mode without flash, RSS, OG image generation, full-text search, and 100/100 Lighthouse — the blog stack you don’t have to debug.
1 template
MDX powered
100/100 Lighthouse
Free & MIT
A developer blog is a long-term asset. Done well, it compounds — one post that ranks for a high-intent query brings traffic for years, builds a reputation in your niche, and warms an audience for whatever product you launch next. Done badly, it’s a graveyard of half-finished posts on a slow WordPress install that scores 32 on Lighthouse.
The Next.js Blog Kit is what you actually want. Posts are MDX files, version-controlled in your repo. Layout is React components, fully customisable. The build is static, so the site is fast on a $5 Vercel hobby plan and serves global traffic from the edge for free. SEO is wired up correctly: dynamic metadata, OG images generated per post, JSON-LD article schema, structured author profiles, an RSS feed for syndication.
Out of the box, it scores 100/100 on Lighthouse across performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO. Dark mode works without flash. Syntax highlighting uses Shiki with line numbers, line highlighting, and a copy button. Reading time is calculated from word count. Full-text search runs client-side via Fuse.js. If you want to pair the blog with a marketing site, see landing page templates or check the broader Next.js catalog.
Available Templates
Browse that rank.
What you get
Production-grade features, batteries included
MDX with React components
Write content in Markdown and drop in React components — interactive demos, charts, callouts, code playgrounds. The whole MDX ecosystem just works.
Dark mode without flash
System preference detection, no flash of unstyled content, smooth transitions. The dark mode plumbing that’s a 30-minute side quest in most templates is done correctly here.
Syntax highlighting via Shiki
30+ themes, line numbers, line highlighting, diff support, copy button, and a fold/unfold mechanism for long blocks. Tokens are highlighted at build time so there’s no client runtime cost.
OG images per post
Dynamic OG images generated at the edge via @vercel/og with title, author, and category. Every post gets a branded social preview without manual design work.
Full SEO + structured data
Dynamic metadata, canonical URLs, sitemap.xml, robots.txt, RSS feed, JSON-LD Article and BreadcrumbList schema, and OpenGraph. Configured per template, not bolted on later.
Reading time + author profiles
Reading time calculated from word count and code density. Multi-author support with per-author profile pages, social links, and bio. Author pages get their own SEO and RSS.
Who it's for
Built for teams that ship
01
Solo developer / personal blog
You want a professional blog that loads fast and doesn’t need a CMS. Write in Markdown, push to GitHub, Vercel deploys. Total cost: $0. Total ongoing maintenance: also $0.
02
DevRel & technical writer
You publish tutorials with code examples and interactive demos. MDX lets you embed live components inside posts. Proper syntax highlighting and OG images mean your work looks good on every platform.
03
Startup engineering team
Your company needs a multi-author engineering blog inside an existing Next.js monorepo. Categories, newsletter integration, and structured data all wired in so the blog becomes a hiring funnel.
Comparison
How DevKit compares
| Feature | DevKit | WordPress | Ghost | Hugo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free & open source | $9/mo+ | |||
| MDX / React in posts | ||||
| Built-in SEO | Plugin | Partial | ||
| Full-text search | Fuse.js | Plugin | ||
| Multi-author profiles | Manual | |||
| Newsletter built in | Plugin | |||
| shadcn/ui components | ||||
| No database required | MySQL | SQLite | ||
| Lighthouse 100/100 | Rarely | Sometimes | ||
| One-click Vercel deploy | ||||
| Dark mode out of box | Plugin | Varies | Varies | |
| TypeScript end-to-end |
FAQ
Common questions
How is this different from other Next.js blog starters?
+
The most popular alternative is timlrx/tailwind-nextjs-starter-blog. DevKit Blog Kit adds full-text search (Fuse.js), multi-author profile pages, a newsletter form, social share buttons, and shadcn/ui components. It uses next-mdx-remote instead of Contentlayer (which has been archived).
What Lighthouse score does it get?
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100/100 across Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO out of the box. The build uses static generation, next/image, font preloading, edge caching, and a tight CSS bundle. You can break those scores if you add heavy third-party scripts, but the starting point is perfect.
Can I monetise a blog built with this?
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Yes. There’s a newsletter signup for audience building, and the architecture supports adding Stripe for paid content, sponsorship slots, or affiliate disclosures. MIT license has no commercial restrictions.
Does it support multiple authors?
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Yes. Each author has a profile page with bio, avatar, social links, and a list of their posts. Author pages get their own metadata, OG images, and JSON-LD person schema.
What about migrating from WordPress or Ghost?
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There’s a documented import path: export your existing posts to Markdown via the WordPress-to-Markdown or Ghost-to-Markdown tools, drop the files in the content folder, and rewrite frontmatter. Most posts come across cleanly — images need to be moved into /public manually.
Can I use a headless CMS instead of MDX files?
+
Yes. There’s an adapter for Sanity and Contentful that swaps the file-based content layer for a CMS-driven one. MDX is the default because it’s fastest and version-controlled, but the seams are clean if you prefer a CMS.
Related categories
Custom builds
Want help launching your blog?
From content strategy to custom MDX components and OG art direction — we can set up your blog so it’s ready to rank, not just live.