zhenfeng-zhu

Nex - A minimalist web framework for indie hackers and startups

Hello Elixir community!

I’m excited to share Nex, a web framework I’ve been building for the past few months. It’s designed for indie hackers, startups, and anyone who wants to ship web applications fast without enterprise complexity.

The philosophy:

Nex embraces simplicity and convention over configuration. It’s built for:

Rapid development – Ship features, not prototypes
Indie hackers & startups – Build profitable products
Internal tools & dashboards – Admin panels, data dashboards
Real-time applications – Live dashboards, chat, streaming with SSE
Server-side rendering done right – Modern web apps without JavaScript overhead

What makes it different:

File-based routing – No configuration. Drop a file in src/pages/, get a route.
HTMX-first – Build interactive UIs with server-side rendering. No JavaScript framework needed.
Hot reload – Instant feedback while developing via WebSocket.
Real-time ready – Built-in Server-Sent Events for streaming data.
Zero config – Works out of the box with sensible defaults.
Production-ready – Docker included, deploy to Railway/Fly.io/Render in minutes.

Quick example:

defmodule MyApp.Pages.Todos do
  use Nex.Page

  def mount(_params) do
    %{todos: fetch_todos()}
  end

  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <h1>My Todos</h1>

    <form hx-post="/add_todo" hx-target="#todos" hx-swap="beforeend">
      <input type="text" name="title" required />
      <button>Add</button>
    </form>

    <ul id="todos">
      <li :for={todo <- @todos}>{todo.title}</li>
    </ul>
    """
  end

  def add_todo(%{"title" => title}) do
    todo = create_todo(title)

    ~H"<li>{@todo.title}</li>"
  end
end

Get started:

mix archive.install hex nex_new
mix nex.new my_app
cd my_app
mix nex.dev

Visit http://localhost:4000 and you’re running.

What’s included:

File-based routing with dynamic routes ([id], [slug], [...path])
HTMX integration with automatic CSRF protection
Server-Sent Events for real-time streaming
JSON API support
Hot reload development experience
Production-ready Docker setup

Example projects:

I’ve included several examples to get you started:

chatbot – AI chat with streaming responses using SSE
chatbot_sse – Real-time streaming with HTMX SSE extension
guestbook – Simple guestbook with persistence
dynamic_routes – Comprehensive showcase of all routing patterns

What’s NOT included:

Built-in ORM (use Ecto directly)
Authentication system (integrate your own)
Asset pipeline (use CDN for Tailwind/DaisyUI)

This is intentional – Nex stays minimal so you can choose your own tools.

I’d love your feedback!

Have you tried it? What worked? What didn’t?
What features would make it more useful?
Any pain points with the current approach?
Would you use this for your projects?

Links:

Hex Package (nex_core): nex_core | Hex
Hex Package (nex_new): nex_new | Hex
API Docs: nex_core v0.4.3 — Documentation
GitHub:

https://github.com/gofenix/nex

Looking forward to hearing from you!

32 comments

#web-frameworks #library #nex

117 2301 32

2026-01-02 15:17:04 UTC

Most Liked

chrismccord

Creator of Phoenix

Nex looks neat!

Great initiative! (I really wish Phoenix would have a less boilerplate code approach, and this is a great foundation)

Periodic reminder that phoenix_playground exists and this is a full Phoenix LiveView app:

Mix.install([
  {:phoenix_playground, "~> 0.1.8"}
])

defmodule DemoLive do
  use Phoenix.LiveView

  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    {:ok, assign(socket, count: 0)}
  end

  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <span>{@count}</span>
    <button phx-click="inc">+</button>

    <style type="text/css">
      body { padding: 1em; }
    </style>
    """
  end

  def handle_event("inc", _params, socket) do
    {:noreply, assign(socket, count: socket.assigns.count + 1)}
  end
end

PhoenixPlayground.start(live: DemoLive)

Post #17

bartblast

Creator of Hologram

Hey @zhenfeng-zhu! Congrats on the Nex launch – it’s great to see more innovation in the Elixir web ecosystem.

Quick thought on the HTMX vs Datastar vs LiveView wrapper approach (saw the Reddit thread as well): I’d suggest focusing on either HTMX or Datastar rather than creating a LiveView wrapper, since LiveView itself could evolve to adopt similar simplification patterns over time – or evolve in other directions entirely. The key issue is that you wouldn’t control that evolution.

@thiagomajesk – I appreciate your thoughts from our earlier conversation about coordination in the community. While I understand the desire for consolidation, I think there’s real value in having different opinionated solutions that take distinct approaches. It’s not always about competing for the same users – often it’s about growing the Elixir pie by offering developers choices that match their specific needs and philosophies.

The simplicity-first philosophy that Nex is pursuing definitely resonates, and I’m heading in a similar direction with Hologram’s standalone mode (which is admittedly long overdue – sorry about that! – but the funding side quest took quite a lot of time, though successful. Big news coming soon). The key difference is the approach: server-driven frameworks like LiveView, HTMX, and Datastar excel at certain use cases, while Hologram takes a different path by compiling Elixir to JavaScript and running it client-side. This avoids latency issues and opens the door to local-first features down the road.

Different problems, different solutions – and that diversity can strengthen the ecosystem as a whole.

Post #30

ostap

IMO it’s all about the learning curve. I suppose someone coming over from Next.js would prefer Nex’s same file-based routing concept. As for HTMX, I vote LiveView