Building a Modern Portfolio with Astro

After years of bouncing between React, Vue, and vanilla HTML, I finally settled on Astro for my portfolio. Here’s why it stuck.

The Problem with Heavy Frameworks

Most modern frameworks ship JavaScript by default. Even a simple blog post might load 100KB+ of framework code before showing a single word. That’s fine for complex applications, but for a portfolio? Overkill.

Astro takes a different approach: ship zero JavaScript by default. Your pages are pure HTML and CSS unless you explicitly add interactivity.

What Won Me Over

1. Content-First Architecture

Astro was built for content sites. Markdown support is first-class, and the content collections API makes managing posts feel natural.

2. Islands Architecture

Need interactivity? Add an “island” of JavaScript only where you need it. The rest stays static and fast.

3. Framework Agnostic

Want to use React components? Vue? Svelte? Astro doesn’t care. Mix and match as needed.

The Build Process

Moving from my old Gatsby site to Astro cut build times from 3 minutes to 15 seconds. Deployment became instant.

Final Thoughts

Astro isn’t perfect for every project. But for content-heavy sites like portfolios and blogs, it’s hard to beat. The developer experience is polished, the output is lean, and I spend more time writing and less time configuring.

If you’re rebuilding your site, give Astro a serious look.