01 Astro development studio
An Astro studio, because speed is the point.
We build on Astro by default, not as a fashion, but because it lets us ship sites as static-fast HTML with almost no JavaScript, and claw it back only where a page genuinely needs it. Performance stops being a retrofit and becomes the architecture. The same standard runs through every website and headless front end we build.
02 The position
Most sites are slow because the framework made them slow.
The modern web defaulted to shipping entire applications to the browser for pages that are, at heart, documents. A marketing site rendered as a heavy single-page app pays for interactivity it never uses, megabytes of JavaScript parsed and executed on a phone just to show some text and images. The result is the slow, janky web everyone complains about, and most of it traces back to the framework default, not the content.
Astro inverts that default. It renders to HTML at build time and ships zero JavaScript unless a specific component genuinely needs to be interactive, at which point only that island hydrates. You get the authoring ergonomics of a modern component framework with the delivery profile of a hand-built static site. Performance is no longer something you bolt on at the end and fight to preserve. It is the starting condition.
That is why Astro is our default, and why we treat the cases where it is not the right tool honestly. Our comparison with Next.js lays out exactly where each framework wins, because picking the wrong default is an expensive mistake to unwind.
03 Philosophy
We chose a default on the merits, then stayed honest about its limits.
Having a default framework is not laziness, it is depth. Building on one architecture by design means we know its sharp edges, its escape hatches, and its failure modes cold, and that knowledge is exactly what a boutique studio sells. Astro is our default because, for the content-driven and marketing sites most clients need, the performance economics are simply better.
But a default is not a religion. When a project is genuinely an application, with dense real-time interactivity throughout, a different tool may be the right call, and we will tell you. Boutique means we take a limited number of clients and give each the recommendation we would make for our own product, not the one that keeps us in the comfort of a single stack.
Performance is not a feature you add at the end. It is a decision you make at the beginning, in the architecture.
04 Capabilities
What we actually build.
- 01
Custom Astro sites
Bespoke marketing sites, documentation, and content-driven products built on Astro from the ground up, every one held to a strict performance budget. The core of our website development practice.
- 02
Astro as a headless front end
The fast presentation layer in a composable stack, Astro reading from a content API and rendering static-fast pages. The front half of our headless CMS work.
- 03
Migrations to Astro
Moving a slow WordPress or single-page-app site onto Astro without losing URLs or SEO equity, often the fastest route from a failing Core Web Vitals score back into the green.
- 04
Islands architecture
Adding interactivity precisely where a page needs it, and nowhere it does not, so the JavaScript budget is spent deliberately instead of shipped by default to every visitor.
- 05
Performance engineering
Treating Core Web Vitals as an engineering target, not a hope, including the interaction-responsiveness work in our INP optimisation guide.
- 06
Content & component systems
The authoring and design-system layer, content collections, typed schemas, and reusable components, so a fast site is also a maintainable one your team can keep shipping on.
05 Method
How we think about the work.
- 01
Ship zero JavaScript until a page earns it.
Astro lets us start from nothing on the client and add interactivity only where it is genuinely needed. We treat every kilobyte of JavaScript as a cost the visitor pays, and we make them justify it.
- 02
Treat Core Web Vitals as a build target.
Performance is not a post-launch audit we hope passes. It is a budget we design to from the first commit, and measure continuously, because a fast site stays fast only if speed is a constraint, not a wish.
- 03
Default with conviction, deviate with reason.
Astro is our default because the merits hold for most of what clients need. But we know its limits, and when a project is truly an application, we will recommend the right tool instead. A default you can defend is worth more than a fashion you follow.
07 Related thinking
Where this work goes deeper.
· Questions we get
Common questions, honest answers.
-
Why do you build on Astro by default?
Because for the content-driven and marketing sites most clients need, Astro's performance economics are simply better. It renders to HTML at build time and ships almost no JavaScript, so sites are static-fast by default instead of requiring a retrofit. We picked it on the merits after building plenty on heavier frameworks, not because it is fashionable.
-
When is Astro the wrong choice?
When a project is genuinely an application, with dense, real-time interactivity throughout rather than a content site with a few interactive moments, a framework like Next.js may be the better default. We are honest about this rather than forcing every project onto one stack. Our insight comparing Astro and Next.js lays out exactly where each one wins.
-
Can you migrate our slow site to Astro?
Yes, and it is one of the most common engagements we take. Moving a heavy WordPress or single-page-app site onto Astro is frequently the fastest route from a failing Core Web Vitals score back into the green. We handle it without losing your URLs or SEO equity, so the speed gain does not come at the cost of your rankings.
-
What does an Astro build cost?
Engagements start at $2,500 for a focused audit or sprint; a full Astro site, content platform, or headless build is scoped on the call. We take a limited number of clients each year and do not compete on price, the engineer who architects the site is the one who builds it.
· Working together
Tell us what you want to build fast.
If you want a site that is static-fast by design rather than retrofitted under duress, Astro is very likely the right foundation, and we will tell you honestly if it is not. Let's talk about what you are building.
Start a conversation