Loaders shipped four major versions ago and the conversation around them has matured. Here's where we've landed.
Loaders are not Server Components
They share an idea — server-evaluated data co-located with a route — but the failure modes are very different. Loaders run on every navigation; Server Components compose into a tree.
What we recommend in 2026
Use loaders for routing data. Use Server Components for content. Use server actions for mutations. Don't try to make any one of them do all three jobs.