The best Gatsby alternatives, compared honestly
Gatsby pioneered the React-based static site — a rich plugin ecosystem, a GraphQL data layer and image optimisation baked in. But since Netlify acquired it in 2023, releases have all but stopped (no version since February 2025), Gatsby Cloud is gone, and the plugin ecosystem has gone quiet. Here's where teams are moving — and where Buddy fits.
The best Gatsby alternative depends on the site you're building:
- Content & marketing sites → Astro — ships almost no JS and can reuse your React components.
- React apps + SSR/dynamic → Next.js — full-stack React.
- Pure speed on large sites → Hugo — Go-based, builds thousands of pages in seconds.
- Build & deploy any of them → Buddy — the CI/CD that builds your framework and ships it to any host.
Why teams look elsewhere
What pushes teams off Gatsby
Gatsby still runs, but the reasons to start something new on it have thinned out. These are the honest, recurring ones.
Development has stalled
No release since gatsby@5.16.1 in February 2025, and no Gatsby 6. After Netlify's 2023 acquisition most of the core team moved on and the roughly yearly major-release cadence stopped.
Gatsby Cloud shut down
The managed build, preview and hosting product was sunset — free-plan instances on 29 September 2023, paid customers on contract dates. Teams that relied on it were forced to migrate.
Plugin ecosystem rot
The plugin catalog that was Gatsby's biggest strength is now largely unmaintained. Popular source and transformer plugins break on Node and React upgrades, with no one racing to fix them.
GraphQL data-layer overhead
Every bit of content routes through an internal GraphQL layer. Powerful for complex sourcing, but a steep learning curve and real build-time complexity that most content sites simply don't need.
Ships the whole React app
Gatsby hydrates a full React bundle on every page. Content-first frameworks like Astro and Eleventy ship near-zero JavaScript by default, for faster loads out of the box.
Ecosystem momentum moved on
For new projects the community now reaches for Astro, Next.js, Hugo or Eleventy. Staying on Gatsby increasingly means maintaining a stack the rest of the ecosystem has left behind.
The shortlist
5 Gatsby alternatives worth trying
Ranked for a team migrating off Gatsby — with an honest weakness on each. Buddy sits at the end because it isn't a framework; it's how you build and ship whichever one you pick.
Islands architecture ships almost no JavaScript by default, and Astro can render your existing React components — so a Gatsby blog or marketing site often ports over with little rewriting. Less ideal for heavily app-like, highly interactive products. astro.build ↗
Full-stack React: SSR, incremental static regeneration, React Server Components and edge rendering. The move if you want to stay in React and need more than static output. Heavier and more opinionated than a pure SSG.
Go-based; builds thousands of pages in seconds. Unbeatable for large content sites. The trade-off: Go templating and no JavaScript component model — a real shift for React developers.
HTML-first and close to the web platform, with minimal runtime JavaScript. Excellent for blogs, docs and marketing sites. You assemble more of the stack yourself than with Gatsby.
Compiler-based with small bundles; does static, server-rendered and SPA output from one codebase. The catch: you're adopting Svelte, not React.
Whichever framework you land on, Buddy is the CI/CD that builds it — native Gatsby CLI, Node.js and Hugo actions — and deploys it to any host or its own Dev Cloud. Own the build, choose the host.
Side by side
Gatsby alternatives compared
Frameworks only — all free and open-source, so the real differences are the rendering model, how much JavaScript ships by default, and the data layer. Astro (our top pick) is highlighted.
| Framework | Language / UI | Rendering | Client JS (default) | Data layer | License | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatsby | React | SSG (+ DSG / SSR) | Full React app | Internal GraphQL | MIT | Existing Gatsby sites |
| Astro | React / Vue / Svelte / more | SSG + SSR | Islands (~0 by default) | Content collections / any | MIT | Content & marketing sites |
| Next.js | React | SSG / SSR / ISR / RSC | App (RSC-trimmed) | Any (fetch / DB) | MIT | React apps + dynamic |
| Hugo | Go templates | SSG | None | Front matter + data files | Apache-2.0 | Large content sites, speed |
| Eleventy | JS (any template lang) | SSG | None (opt-in) | Data cascade | MIT | Simple content sites |
| SvelteKit | Svelte | SSG / SSR / SPA | Compiled, minimal | Any (load functions) | MIT | Modern all-in-one |
Rendering models and defaults evolve — check each project's docs for current behaviour. Compiled July 2026 from each project's official documentation.
Official sites: Gatsby · Astro · Next.js · Hugo · Eleventy · SvelteKit
Own the build, choose the host
Where Buddy fits in a Gatsby migration
Buddy isn't a framework, so it isn't on the list above — it's the CI/CD layer that builds whichever framework you choose and ships it anywhere. That decoupling is exactly what the Gatsby Cloud shutdown taught teams to want.
Builds every framework
Native Gatsby CLI and Node.js actions build Gatsby, Astro, Next.js, Eleventy and SvelteKit; native Hugo, Jekyll and Hexo actions cover the Go/Ruby SSGs; Custom Builds handle the rest.
Deploy anywhere
Ship to Netlify, Amazon S3 + CloudFront, Google CDN, DigitalOcean, or over FTP/SFTP/Rsync — a native action for each, not a hand-rolled script.
Or host on Dev Cloud
Serve static output straight from the pipeline on Buddy Dev Cloud with atomic deploys — no separate hosting account to wire up first.
No host lock-in
The lesson from Gatsby Cloud: keep the framework and the host separate. Buddy lets you change hosts without changing your build.
Preview environments
Spin up a per-branch or per-PR environment with its own URL, so content and design changes get reviewed before they ship.
Visual + YAML pipelines
Assemble builds in a visual editor or as YAML in the repo, with 100+ prebuilt actions and build caching — set up in minutes, versioned like code.
A fair call
When Gatsby is still the right choice
A stalled framework isn't automatically the wrong one. Gatsby can still be the pragmatic call in a few cases.
Gatsby is fine if…
- You have a large, working Gatsby site and no pressing reason to rewrite it — 5.16 keeps it running on React 19 and Node 24.
- You depend on a specific Gatsby plugin or the GraphQL data layer that has no clean equivalent elsewhere.
- Your team knows Gatsby well and values a stable, frozen target over chasing new features.
- You're already on Netlify and happy with its Gatsby support.
Consider an alternative if…
- You're starting a new content site — Astro ships less JS and can reuse your React components.
- You need SSR, ISR or app-like interactivity — Next.js is the React path.
- Build times on a large site hurt — Hugo builds thousands of pages in seconds.
- You want a simple, low-dependency stack you can maintain for years — Eleventy.
Head to head
Gatsby vs the top alternatives
Deeper one-on-one comparisons for the three most common migration paths.
Common questions
Gatsby alternatives — common questions
Is Gatsby dead in 2026?
Not dead, but effectively in maintenance mode. Netlify, which acquired Gatsby in 2023, has committed to keeping it stable and secure rather than adding new features. The last release, gatsby@5.16.1, shipped in February 2025, and there is no Gatsby 6. Existing sites keep working; most teams starting fresh choose a more actively developed framework.
What happened to Gatsby Cloud?
Gatsby Cloud, the managed build, preview and hosting service, was sunset after Netlify's acquisition. Free-plan instances were discontinued on 29 September 2023, and paid customers migrated on their contract dates. The open-source Gatsby framework itself still exists; only the hosted product was shut down.
What is the best Gatsby alternative?
It depends on the site. For most content and marketing sites, Astro is the closest fit — it ships almost no JavaScript and can reuse your React components. For React apps that need SSR or dynamic rendering, Next.js. For pure build speed on large sites, Hugo. For a minimal, low-dependency stack, Eleventy.
Can I reuse my React components if I migrate off Gatsby?
Partly. Astro can render existing React components inside its islands architecture, so presentational components often port over with little change. Next.js is React end to end, so component reuse is highest there. Hugo (Go templates) and Eleventy (template languages) don't run React components, so those migrations involve rewriting the view layer.
Why do people dislike Gatsby's GraphQL data layer?
Gatsby routes all content through an internal GraphQL layer. It's powerful for pulling from many sources, but it adds a learning curve and build-time complexity that many content sites don't need. Newer frameworks let you fetch data with plain JavaScript or simple content collections, which many developers find simpler.
Is Gatsby still good for SEO and performance?
Gatsby can still produce fast, SEO-friendly static sites, and 5.16 supports React 19 and Node.js 24. The concern is less raw performance and more long-term maintenance: an aging plugin ecosystem and stalled releases make it harder to keep a Gatsby site healthy over time than with an actively developed alternative.
Are these Gatsby alternatives free?
Yes. Astro, Next.js, Eleventy and SvelteKit are MIT-licensed and Hugo is Apache-2.0 — all free and open-source. Costs come from where you host and build the site, not the framework itself.