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Jekyll vs Gatsby
Compare Jekyll and Gatsby to find the best tool for your needs.
Jekyll
A simple, blog-aware static site generator perfect for personal, project, or organization sites.
See all detailsVS
Gatsby
A React-based static site generator with powerful data layer and plugin ecosystem.
See all detailsQuick overview
Pricing
Free (open source)
Free (open source), paid Gatsby Cloud services
Pros & Cons
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
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
Features comparison
| Feature | Jekyll | Gatsby |
|---|---|---|
| Core Features | ||
| SEO | Partial Basic features built-in, but requires 'jekyll-seo-tag' plugin for full functionality | Yes Strong SEO support through gatsby-plugin-react-helmet and other official plugins |
| Sitemap | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-sitemap' plugin | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-sitemap |
| RSS Feed | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-feed' plugin | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-feed |
| Theming system | Yes Built-in theming system with many available themes | Yes Supports themes through gatsby-theme architecture with component shadowing |
| Plugin system | Yes Rich plugin system with many extensions available | Yes Extensive plugin ecosystem with thousands of plugins available |
| Content Management | ||
| Emoji | Via plugin Requires 'jemoji' plugin | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-emoji or other emoji plugins |
| Image optimization | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-picture-tag', 'jekyll-responsive-image', or manual integration | Yes Advanced image optimization with gatsby-plugin-sharp, gatsby-image, and built-in responsive images |
| Taxonomies | Partial Native support for categories and tags, but limited for custom taxonomies without plugins | Via GraphQL Custom taxonomies can be implemented through GraphQL queries and data structures |
| Pagination | Via plugin Native in older versions, but requires 'jekyll-paginate' or 'jekyll-paginate-v2' for recent versions | Via API Pagination available through createPage API and GraphQL queries |
| Table of contents | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-toc' plugin or using kramdown with toc option | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-table-of-contents or similar plugins |
| Comments | Via integration Integration with third-party services like Disqus, Utterances, or staticman | Via integration Integration with Disqus, Commento, Utterances via React components |
| Integrations | ||
| Social media integration | Partial Basic support via Liquid templates, but requires customization for advanced integration | Via plugin Social sharing, cards, and integrations available through various plugins |
| Analytics | Via integration Easily integrable via snippets in Liquid templates | Via plugin Easy integration with Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom through official plugins |
| Newsletter | Via integration Requires third-party services integration like Hakanai, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, etc. | Via integration Can be integrated through React components for services like Mailchimp, ConvertKit |
| Search | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-algolia', 'simple-jekyll-search', or 'jekyll-lunr-js-search' | Via plugin Options include Algolia (gatsby-plugin-algolia), Lunr.js, Elasticsearch integrations |
| Headless CMS integration | Via integration Compatible with Forestry, Netlify CMS, CloudCannon, Contentful via custom configuration | Yes First-class support for most headless CMS platforms with official plugins for Contentful, WordPress, Sanity, Strapi, etc. |
| Advanced Features | ||
| Multilingual | Limited Basic support via collections or plugins like 'jekyll-polyglot' or 'jekyll-multiple-languages-plugin' | Via plugin i18n support through plugins like gatsby-plugin-intl or gatsby-plugin-i18n |
| AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-amp-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration | Via plugin Available through gatsby-plugin-amp or custom implementation |
| PWA (Progressive Web App) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration | Yes First-class PWA support through gatsby-plugin-manifest and gatsby-plugin-offline |
| Specialized Content | ||
| PlantUML | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-plantuml' or 'jekyll-diagrams' plugin | Via plugin Can be integrated through custom components or markdown remark plugins |
| Mermaid | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-mermaid' plugin or custom JavaScript integration | Via plugin Can be used with gatsby-remark-mermaid plugin |
| KaTeX (math) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-katex' plugin or custom JavaScript integration | Via plugin Supported through gatsby-remark-katex or other math rendering plugins |
| GitHub Gists integration | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-gist' plugin | Via plugin Can be implemented with gatsby-remark-embed-gist |