Hmm. I haven’t used Remix but I’ve avoided it for exactly the same reason, that I might become a victim of their latest business model.
They got their start way back with React-Router. At the time, their business was React Training. They’d train people how to use React. React Router had this curious tendency to change its API drastically with each release. Stuff you depended on would suddenly go away, and you’d be told “That’s not the right way to build apps anymore. This is the True Way.” It really sucked, but it seemed like a good way to drive demand for training.
Then they came up with Remix. Remix has been pretty stable, but when looking at React Router, I kept noticing there was stuff that felt more like an app framework than a router. It felt like it’s pulling me into Remix. Then last year they announced that they’re merging Remix and React Router. So if I was already dependent on React Router, I’d be fully committed to Remix, whether I wanted to be or not.
What new shiny thing or new business model will they be chasing next year? I’m not willing to risk finding out.
If you're looking for something simpler that's closer to Next's original premice, Remix.js is awesome and much lighter.