When it comes to static site generation (SSG) in the world of web development, Gatsby and Next.js are two popular frameworks that often come to mind. Both of these frameworks have gained a lot of traction in recent years, offering developers powerful tools and features for creating static sites. But the question remains, which one does SSG better? Let’s take a closer look at each framework and compare their strengths and weaknesses.
Gatsby is a static site generator built on top of React. It’s known for its blazing-fast build times and excellent performance. Gatsby uses GraphQL for querying data, providing developers with a highly efficient way to fetch and manipulate data from various sources.
One of the key strengths of Gatsby is its extensive plugin ecosystem. Gatsby supports a wide range of plugins that can be easily added to your project, extending its capabilities. This makes it easy to add features like image optimization, SEO optimization, and more.
Another standout feature of Gatsby is its caching mechanism. Gatsby intelligently caches data and pages, resulting in lightning-fast load times for subsequent visits. This caching mechanism, combined with the use of pre-rendering, makes Gatsby an excellent choice for building static sites.
However, one limitation of Gatsby is its complexity. Gatsby has a steep learning curve, especially for developers who are new to React or GraphQL. Its complex build process may also slow down development time for larger projects.
Next.js, on the other hand, is a framework for server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation. It also uses React as its foundation and offers a highly flexible and powerful development experience. Next.js allows developers to choose between SSR and SSG, depending on their project requirements.
One of the major strengths of Next.js is its ease of use. Next.js provides a lot of out-of-the-box functionality, making it a breeze to get started with static site generation. The framework handles routing, code splitting, and optimization automatically, significantly reducing the burden on developers.
Furthermore, Next.js supports incremental static generation (ISG), which allows developers to generate static pages at build time or request time. This flexibility makes it suitable for dynamic websites that require real-time data.
However, Next.js might not perform as well as Gatsby in terms of build times. Due to its more flexible nature, Next.js may take longer to build and optimize pages compared to Gatsby.
So, which framework does SSG better? The answer depends on your specific project requirements and preferences. If you value performance and caching, Gatsby might be the better choice. On the other hand, if you prioritize ease of use and flexibility, Next.js might be the way to go.
Both frameworks have their own strengths and weaknesses, and they excel in different areas of SSG. It’s crucial to evaluate your project needs and consider factors like learning curve, build times, and desired functionality when making a decision.
In the end, both Gatsby and Next.js are powerful tools that have successfully democratized static site generation. Whichever framework you choose, you’re bound to have a great experience building static sites.
Now I'm more confused 🙂
Gatsby is Great, but so hard. Thx we have to go with some next, Next.js 😀
Nextjs all the way!!
Can’t go back after nextjs
Tldr; next.js
sound is very low
Very enlightening to demonstrate the choice.
My big deception with gatsby is the rebuild for every change in the content.
It makes consume time, processing and downtime in constant avalaibility.
Which gatsby try to hide with a wonderful plugins ecosystem.
But hey when you are wrong you could also be nice and useful at the end of the day you still wrong.
Love how you walk through all the file structures in the explanation. Makes it seem so much less abstract
I’ve read/watched a few Gatsby/Next comparisons and this one is the best I’ve seen. It really lays out the difference in approaches. Thanks!
one thing really bugged me… Why do you "need to do markdown" to do static site development?
I do not like Gatsby, the tradeoffs are quite a lot!
Where do you live bro?
6 months of using Next.js. Worst development experience I had in a while, reasons:
1. Terrible routing system based on OS' file system. Think about /contacts vs /Contacts. They'd be different.
2. Terrible performance when it comes to development mode. ~10s to recompile & load a page. (Antivirus and hardware is not to blame, see github). Forget about HMR. e2e tests will timeout.
3. Terrible naming convention enforced by the routing system. pages/[…slug]/[id].js. Navigating in the editor is a lot of fun.
4. You will always have some errors in the console which you won't be able to fix. And will pollute your brain. Trust me.
If you don't care about SEO, do yourself a favour and stay away from SSR.
Mr Robot?
that was really useful. Thank you, John Oliver.
next
Good stuff! I'm planning on a comparison video in the next couple of weeks
What should I use if I want a site with dynamic content which is updated from users' input? Kind of like Airbnb or Upwork, for example?
For me, I love using Next.js over Gatsby.js. The former supports both SSR and SSG. The gatsby forces GraphQL which I don’t really need. Gatsby API is too rich and very confusing. Next has simple API and very easy to use once we know React. (Gatsby is hard to use even I knew React)
great video!