Swiper Element vs Swiper React Component (Next.js 15)

[amitsarkerr]

Hi Swiper team 👋

I’m currently using Next.js 15 (App Router, React 19.1) and exploring whether I should use Swiper Element (Web Component) instead of the Swiper React components.

I’ve read that Swiper React may have some SSR/hydration issues in recent Next.js versions—especially with server components—and I’m wondering:
What are the main advantages or trade-offs between swiper/element and swiper/react for a Next.js project?
Is the Swiper Element version better for SSR compatibility in App Router (since it avoids React context/ref issues)?
Are there any limitations when using swiper/element in React (e.g. accessing APIs, performance, lazy loading modules)?
Do you recommend switching to Swiper Element in new projects using Next.js 15?
Is Swiper Element fully compatible with typescript?

Thanks in advance for any insights! 🙏

[vofronte]

Hey @amitsarkerr,

Short answer: swiper/element is the future, but it's a bit of a pain to use in React. You have to use useRef and useEffect for everything (like listening to events or calling API methods), which feels clunky.

And is it better for SSR? Not really a magic fix. You'll probably still end up using next/dynamic with ssr: false for it, just to avoid all the hydration errors. So it's kinda the same fix for both versions.

The biggest issue is swiper/element has no real typescript support yet. That's a huge pain.

For a new project, I'd probably still use swiper/element just because that's the direction the library is heading. But yeah, be ready for a bit of a fight to get it working perfectly.

Hope that helps