So, there are times when you find yourself in this position, in this dilemma: which framework should I choose? The answer to this question is not really that simple.
Frameworks help you develop faster, while still adhering to some design pattern. Say Angular: splitting the Model, the View, and the Controller, you have specific roles for everything. This makes maintainability a breeze. The point I am trying to make here is that if you have a well defined RESTful (basically, any type of API), using a framework can simplify many things.
Say, you are not using a frontend framework, and are manually printing tables and what not. That's probably the time when you use a framework. Almost immediately you'll realise how simple things can be with it.
Using a framework is never a bad practice, but if you have to write the backend and the frontend, it'll be too much work. The crux of this "speech" is that if you have a well defined backend, you can use a framework very easily and you won't regret it. A project is never "big enough" to be using a framework, it's all about how you have designed the services. You can finish a small project with ease when you're using a framework; you can write maintainable code for a large project and so forth.
If you have any doubts, feel free to throw them at me! :)