What Are GatsbyJS Alternatives?

As one of the most popular Static Site Generators (SSG), Gatsby.js is a huge boom nowadays, and so many people are trying to recognize its usage not by what is, but what are the alternatives.

As developers, we can’t stress enough that you get what you pay for.

So, to help you make an informed decision for your business (hint – no, it’s not a WordPress theme), let’s take a look at GatsbyJS – a web solution that’s taking our industry by storm.

What is GatsbyJS?

GatsbyJS is an open-source React-based, GraphQL powered static site generator (SSG) that enables you to build superfast and SEO-friendly Jamstack websites.

We wrote another article about what is Jamstack, if you want to dig deeper!

In slightly more simple terms, this means that it combines the very best bits of React, Webpack, React-router, GraphQL, and other front-end tools, creating one single solution that web developers love to use.

It uses precompilation features to build a website that only uses static files, resulting in amazingly fast page loads, code splitting, server-side rendering, image lazy loading, asset optimization and data prefetching.

What makes Gatsby awesome?

While Gatsby may be pretty new on the IT scene, it really is a force to be reckoned with. You’re probably wondering why, right?

• 🔎 SEO. There’s no doubt about it – Gatsby builds the fastest websites in the world, and we’re not even exaggerating! As page speed is such a major ranking factor when it comes to SEO, that’s exactly why Google loves Gatsby sites. Hence, it also gets a number of other SEO brownie points by being so secure and highly adaptable.
• 💲 Free hosting…well, nearly! Right now if you have a basic website and want better performance you need to invest in good hosting, which can get pretty expensive. With Gatsby, that’s not the case as Gatsby hosting works on a freemium model.
• 🚀 Quicker development. Developers love Gatsby for the reason that it’s such a pleasure to work with. They are able to work more efficiently, which means you get your site back sooner.
• 📲 It’s like one big app. UX is a huge factor in getting sales from your website, and that’s why Gatsby is so great. Gatsby websites feel like one big app, and this is why they’re really simple for users to navigate their path to purchase.
• 😁 Happy site = happy life! Ok, that doesn’t quite make as much sense as happy wife happy life, but you get the idea! If users love your site, they’re going to buy and that’s going to make you (and the big boss) happy. Plus, you won’t get complaints from people having a moan about the website taking too long to load, etc.

What are the alternatives to Gatsby?

Yes, there are a couple of alternatives to Gatsby out there. You have Jekyll, Next.js, Hugo, Hexo. Probably, there are a number of other alternatives, but the ones we’ve just mentioned are by far the most popular.

Above all, the great thing about Gatsby is that it is more feature-rich than its competitors. Its use cases are the main thing that wins over its users.

Just to demonstrate what we mean, let’s take a look at the features. We’ve marked all the features on a simple scale.

Next.js – top Gatsby.js alternative

The most popular alternative to Gatsby.js is Next.js.

What’s superb about Next.js is the fact that you can build static pages, that behave like dynamic ones.

On top of that, Next.js seems to give you a bit more frontend execution freedom, while Gatsby.js is a bit easier to start with.

You can read a more comprehensive comparison between Gatsby.js vs Next.js here.

Or watch the video:

Conclusion to Gatsby alternatives

If the “great” Gatsby has won you over as it has us, how about getting in touch?

Our team of experienced developers is here to make your Gatsby dream a reality!