Can I remove Next.js?

Next.js is a react framework which gives you the best developer experience with all the features you need for production: hybrid static & server-side rendering, TypeScript support, smart bundling, route pre-fetching, your custom webpack, etc.

Please refer following articles which should convince you to start your next project on Next.js rather than on plain React. It does not have a huge learning curve and it will benefit you in many ways:

• Create React App (CRA) vs Next.js
  
• Next.js Benefits
  

You can read Next.js docs here.

This template is created with Next.js as the base and thus, Next.js cannot be removed from the template.