Gatsby

What Is Gatsby?

Gatsby is a React-based static site generator with a GraphQL data layer and extensive plugin ecosystem. Founded by Kyle Mathews in 2015, Gatsby pioneered the concept of combining static site generation with React's component model, enabling developers to build fast, SEO-friendly websites while using modern development tools.

Build-Time Data Layer

Gatsby's distinguishing feature is its GraphQL data layer that unifies content from multiple sources at build time. Source plugins pull data from CMSes, APIs, databases, and files into a single GraphQL schema. Page queries and static queries fetch exactly the data each component needs.

Performance by Default

Gatsby generates pre-rendered HTML for every page with optimized JavaScript bundles for client-side hydration. Image optimization automatically generates responsive image sets with lazy loading and blur-up placeholders. Link prefetching preloads nearby pages for instant navigation. Code splitting ensures each page loads only the JavaScript it needs.

Plugin Ecosystem

The plugin ecosystem covers data sourcing, transformation, SEO, analytics, PWA features, and more. Plugins for WordPress, Contentful, Sanity, Shopify, and other content sources enable building sites backed by familiar editing tools.

Why Choose Gatsby

Content-driven websites, documentation sites, and marketing pages that need excellent performance and SEO choose Gatsby. The GraphQL data layer is particularly valuable when aggregating content from multiple sources into a unified site.