Eleventy, also known as @11ty/eleventy, is a static site generator built with JavaScript that allows developers to create fast and flexible websites. It focuses on simplicity and ease of use, providing a minimal setup and configuration process. Eleventy supports various template languages like Markdown, HTML, and JavaScript, giving developers the flexibility to choose the best approach for their projects. It also offers a rich plugin ecosystem for extending its functionality and integrating with other tools.
Gatsby is a modern static site generator built on React that helps developers build blazing fast websites and web applications. It leverages the power of GraphQL to pull data from various sources and generate static pages, making it efficient for SEO and performance optimization. Gatsby's plugin ecosystem allows for easy integration of additional functionalities like image optimization, PWA support, and content management systems.
Gatsby is more popular than Eleventy in terms of community adoption and usage. Gatsby has gained significant popularity due to its powerful features, extensive plugin ecosystem, and strong support for building static websites and progressive web applications.
Architecture
Eleventy is a simpler and more lightweight static site generator compared to Gatsby. It focuses on simplicity, speed, and easy customization. On the other hand, Gatsby is a more comprehensive framework that uses React and GraphQL to build static websites with a rich developer experience.
Learning Curve
Eleventy has a smaller learning curve as it requires a basic understanding of templating languages like HTML, JavaScript, and Markdown. Gatsby, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its usage of React, GraphQL, and its own ecosystem of plugins and configurations.
Flexibility
Eleventy provides more flexibility in terms of choosing your own stack, templating language, and asset pipeline. It supports a wide range of templating languages and allows you to use your preferred build tools. Gatsby, with its React and GraphQL approach, provides a more opinionated setup and is well-suited for larger, data-intensive websites.
Performance
Eleventy is known for its exceptional performance due to its simple architecture and minimal build process. It generates static HTML files that are fast to load. Gatsby, although powerful, can have a longer build time due to its more complex webpack-based build process and dynamic rendering of pages.
Extensibility
Both Eleventy and Gatsby have extension ecosystems where you can find plugins to extend their functionality. Gatsby has a larger plugin ecosystem with more options and support due to its popularity, while Eleventy's ecosystem is smaller but growing steadily.
