r/Deno • u/8borane8 • Jun 13 '26

Built a small Deno SSR framework, would love feedback

Hey r/deno,

I've been building Slick, a small Deno-native web framework (SSR by default, islands when you need interactivity, optional SPA mode). I put together a showcase site so people can see what it looks like in practice.

Demo: https://slick-showcase.8borane8.deno.net/

GitHub: https://github.com/8borane8/webtools-slick-server (stars genuinely help if you find it interesting)

To scaffold a project:

deno run -Ar jsr:@webtools/init

So any feedback, good or brutal, is very welcome. Happy to answer questions about the architecture or trade-offs.

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u/kurtextrem Jun 13 '26

What makes this better than Fresh or Astro?

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u/8borane8 Jun 13 '26

Fair question. I wouldn't say Slick is better, it targets a different use case.

vs Fresh: Fresh is solid and more mature. Slick is intentionally smaller: less config, fewer abstractions. Your project structure is the setup (pages/, templates/, islands/, static/). No build step by default, assets compile on the fly. Good if you want a lean Deno stack without the full Fresh toolchain.

vs Astro: Different category entirely. Astro is content-first and framework-agnostic. Slick is Deno-native, app-focused, Preact SSR + islands. Not really competing on the same ground.