CMS
Hosting
Tools
Community
Gatsby vs Jekyll
Compare Gatsby and Jekyll to find the best tool for your needs.
Gatsby
A React-based static site generator with powerful data layer and plugin ecosystem.
See all detailsVS
Jekyll
A simple, blog-aware static site generator perfect for personal, project, or organization sites.
See all detailsQuick overview
Pricing
Free (open source), paid Gatsby Cloud services
Free (open source)
Pros & Cons
Gatsby
Pros
- React-based architecture
- GraphQL data layer
- Large plugin ecosystem
- Progressive image loading
Cons
- Requires React knowledge
- Steep learning curve
- Build time can be slow for large sites
- Complex for simple projects
Jekyll
Pros
- Fast and secure static sites
- GitHub Pages integration
- Simple to use for developers
- Great for blogs and documentation
Cons
- Requires Ruby knowledge for customization
- Not suitable for dynamic content
- No visual editor for non-technical users
- Build time increases with site size
Features comparison
| Feature | Gatsby | Jekyll |
|---|---|---|
| Core Features | ||
| SEO | Yes Strong SEO support through gatsby-plugin-react-helmet and other official plugins | Partial Basic features built-in, but requires 'jekyll-seo-tag' plugin for full functionality |
| Sitemap | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-sitemap | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-sitemap' plugin |
| RSS Feed | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-feed | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-feed' plugin |
| Theming system | Yes Supports themes through gatsby-theme architecture with component shadowing | Yes Built-in theming system with many available themes |
| Plugin system | Yes Extensive plugin ecosystem with thousands of plugins available | Yes Rich plugin system with many extensions available |
| Content Management | ||
| Emoji | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-emoji or other emoji plugins | Via plugin Requires 'jemoji' plugin |
| Image optimization | Yes Advanced image optimization with gatsby-plugin-sharp, gatsby-image, and built-in responsive images | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-picture-tag', 'jekyll-responsive-image', or manual integration |
| Taxonomies | Via GraphQL Custom taxonomies can be implemented through GraphQL queries and data structures | Partial Native support for categories and tags, but limited for custom taxonomies without plugins |
| Pagination | Via API Pagination available through createPage API and GraphQL queries | Via plugin Native in older versions, but requires 'jekyll-paginate' or 'jekyll-paginate-v2' for recent versions |
| Table of contents | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-table-of-contents or similar plugins | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-toc' plugin or using kramdown with toc option |
| Comments | Via integration Integration with Disqus, Commento, Utterances via React components | Via integration Integration with third-party services like Disqus, Utterances, or staticman |
| Integrations | ||
| Social media integration | Via plugin Social sharing, cards, and integrations available through various plugins | Partial Basic support via Liquid templates, but requires customization for advanced integration |
| Analytics | Via plugin Easy integration with Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom through official plugins | Via integration Easily integrable via snippets in Liquid templates |
| Newsletter | Via integration Can be integrated through React components for services like Mailchimp, ConvertKit | Via integration Requires third-party services integration like Hakanai, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, etc. |
| Search | Via plugin Options include Algolia (gatsby-plugin-algolia), Lunr.js, Elasticsearch integrations | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-algolia', 'simple-jekyll-search', or 'jekyll-lunr-js-search' |
| Headless CMS integration | Yes First-class support for most headless CMS platforms with official plugins for Contentful, WordPress, Sanity, Strapi, etc. | Via integration Compatible with Forestry, Netlify CMS, CloudCannon, Contentful via custom configuration |
| Advanced Features | ||
| Multilingual | Via plugin i18n support through plugins like gatsby-plugin-intl or gatsby-plugin-i18n | Limited Basic support via collections or plugins like 'jekyll-polyglot' or 'jekyll-multiple-languages-plugin' |
| AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-amp or custom implementation | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-amp-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration |
| PWA (Progressive Web App) | Yes First-class PWA support through gatsby-plugin-manifest and gatsby-plugin-offline | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration |
| Specialized Content | ||
| PlantUML | Via plugin Can be integrated through custom components or markdown remark plugins | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-plantuml' or 'jekyll-diagrams' plugin |
| Mermaid | Via plugin Can be used with gatsby-remark-mermaid plugin | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-mermaid' plugin or custom JavaScript integration |
| KaTeX (math) | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-katex or other math rendering plugins | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-katex' plugin or custom JavaScript integration |
| GitHub Gists integration | Via plugin Can be implemented with gatsby-remark-embed-gist | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-gist' plugin |