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Gatsby

React-based open-source framework with a GraphQL data layer, now maintained under Netlify.

Open sourceSelf-hostableContent management systems
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About Gatsby

Gatsby is an open-source, React-based framework for building websites, released under the MIT licence. It pulls content from Markdown, headless CMSs, APIs and databases into a unified GraphQL data layer, then builds fast pages with image optimisation, prefetching and a large plugin ecosystem. At its peak it was one of the most popular ways to build JAMstack sites, and many existing marketing sites and blogs still run on it. Netlify acquired Gatsby in 2023 and folded Gatsby Cloud into its own platform, and since then the framework has seen much slower development while newer tools like Astro and Next.js have taken its place for new projects. It remains free to use and still works, but it is mainly relevant for teams maintaining existing Gatsby sites. The downsides are slow builds on large sites, a heavy plugin dependency tree and uncertain long-term investment. It runs on Node.js on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Best for: Teams maintaining existing Gatsby sites built on React and GraphQL.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Unified GraphQL layer over many content sources
  • Large plugin ecosystem from its peak years
  • MIT-licensed and free

Why people leave

  • Development has slowed sharply since the Netlify acquisition
  • Slow builds on large sites
  • Heavy plugin dependency trees are hard to upgrade

Top Gatsby alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Astro logo
    Astro

    The usual modern replacement, with islands and React support.

    66.5
  2. 2Eleventy logo
    Eleventy

    Lean generator with simpler builds and no React.

    62.6
  3. 3Hugo logo
    Hugo

    Much faster builds for large content sites.

    59.6
  4. 4Payload logo
    Payload

    Next.js-native CMS if you're moving to Next.js.

    57.2
  5. 5Sanity logo
    Sanity

    Hosted headless CMS that works with any framework you migrate to.

    55.3

Why people left Gatsby

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Gatsby, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

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Gatsby: common questions

Is Gatsby free?

Yes. Gatsby is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Gatsby open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at gatsbyjs/gatsby. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Gatsby run on?

Gatsby is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Gatsby?

The highest-ranked Gatsby alternatives right now are Astro, Eleventy and Hugo. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Gatsby alternatives