Ecosystem of Middlemen

I’ve been checking websites for some AI development agencies recently, and I’ve noticed that many of them list the same three frameworks on their websites. Sometimes it’s only two of them, but usually all three:

It seems like there’s something of a chain reaction going on, leading in both directions. A developer might learn to code with React, move on to a full-stack solution with Next.js, and then deploy with Vercel. Or maybe they heard about Vercel from a Twitter influencer, and then moved on to developing their web application with Next.js, which of course uses React. 

Although Vercel can be used to deploy all kinds of apps, they seem to push Next.js the most. You could say that Vercel is the default deployment platform to use when building with Next.js (and vice versa). And this is because they’re both backed by the same company. This VC-backed company has great marketing. And this company doesn’t want you to self-host your own applications. From Vercel’s website:

Vercel is the native Next.js platform, designed to enhance the Next.js experience. Next.js is a fullstack React framework for the web, maintained by Vercel. While Next.js works when self-hosting, deploying to Vercel is zero-configuration and provides additional enhancements for scalability, availability, and performance globally.

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