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Gatsby vs Gridsome: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Gatsby and Gridsome are two popular static site generators that help developers build fast, efficient, and optimized websites. While they share some similarities, there are key differences that set them apart from each other.

  1. Development Environment: Gatsby uses React, a JavaScript library, as its front-end framework, providing a powerful and flexible development environment. Gridsome, on the other hand, leverages Vue.js, another JavaScript framework, which is known for its simplicity and ease of use. This difference in front-end frameworks provides developers with different options based on their preferences and existing knowledge.

  2. Data Fetching: Gatsby employs GraphQL, a query language for APIs, to fetch and manipulate data. It allows developers to easily pull data from various sources and filter it as needed. Gridsome also utilizes GraphQL, making it easy to source data from various APIs or content management systems. However, Gridsome offers additional features like automatic schema generation, making it more convenient to work with data.

  3. Routing and Pagination: Gatsby uses a file-based routing system, where multiple pages are created based on the file structure. It allows for easy navigation and deep linking. Gridsome, on the other hand, leverages a page-query system, allowing developers to specify which pages to generate based on a GraphQL query. It provides more flexibility when defining routes and pagination for specific content types.

  4. Plugin Ecosystem: Gatsby has a vast plugin ecosystem, with a wide range of plugins available for functionality and customization. These plugins offer additional features and integrations, extending the capabilities of a Gatsby site. Gridsome, although relatively new compared to Gatsby, also has a growing plugin ecosystem, enabling developers to add various functionalities to their sites. However, Gatsby's plugin ecosystem is more mature and extensive.

  5. Performance: Gatsby is known for its excellent performance optimization capabilities, with features like code splitting, asset optimization, and preloading. It allows websites to load and navigate quickly, providing a smooth user experience. Gridsome also focuses on performance optimization, but it may not offer the same level of optimization as Gatsby out of the box. Additional optimization techniques may be required to achieve similar performance levels.

  6. Community and Support: Gatsby has a large and active community, which means developers can find ample support and resources online. The documentation and tutorials available for Gatsby are abundant, making it easier for developers to get started and solve issues. Gridsome, being a relatively newer framework, has a smaller community in comparison. While it may be growing, finding specific answers or resources for Gridsome might be more challenging compared to Gatsby.

In Summary, Gatsby and Gridsome differ in their development environments, data fetching approaches, routing mechanisms, plugin ecosystems, performance optimization capabilities, and community support.

Decisions about Gatsby and Gridsome
Manuel Feller
Frontend Engineer at BI X · | 4 upvotes · 161.4K views

As a Frontend Developer I wanted something simple to generate static websites with technology I am familiar with. GatsbyJS was in the stack I am familiar with, does not need any other languages / package managers and allows quick content deployment in pure HTML or Markdown (what you prefer for a project). It also does not require you to understand a theming engine if you need a custom design.

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Pros of Gatsby
Pros of Gridsome
  • 28
    Generated websites are super fast
  • 16
    Fast
  • 15
    GraphQL
  • 10
    Progressive Web Apps generation
  • 9
    Easy to connect with lots of CMS via official plugins
  • 9
    Reusable components (React)
  • 7
    Allows to use markdown files as articles
  • 5
    Static-sites
  • 5
    All the benefits of a static website + React+GraphQL
  • 5
    Images
  • 4
    List of starters as base for new project
  • 3
    Easy to connect with Drupal via official plugin
  • 3
    Open source
  • 1
    Gitlab pages integration
  • 1
    Incremental Build
  • 16
    Vuejs
  • 10
    GraphQL
  • 6
    Starter kit as a base for new project
  • 5
    Reusable components (Vue)
  • 4
    Open source
  • 3
    Allows to use markdown files as articles
  • 3
    Static-sites
  • 2
    Generated websites are super fast
  • 2
    Blogging website
  • 0
    Webpack

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Cons of Gatsby
Cons of Gridsome
  • 6
    No ssr
  • 3
    Very slow builds
  • 3
    Documentation isn't complete.
  • 2
    For-profit
  • 2
    Slow builds
  • 2
    Flash of unstyled content issues
  • 1
    Problematic between develop and build commands
  • 1
    Difficult debugging
  • 1
    Too many dependencies
  • 1
    Plugin driven development
  • 1
    Difficult maintenance
  • 1
    Open source
  • 1
    Still young

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What is Gatsby?

Gatsby lets you build blazing fast sites with your data, whatever the source. Liberate your sites from legacy CMSs and fly into the future.

What is Gridsome?

Build websites using latest web tech tools that developers love - Vue.js, GraphQL and Webpack. Get hot-reloading and all the power of Node.js. Gridsome makes building websites fun again.

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What companies use Gatsby?
What companies use Gridsome?
See which teams inside your own company are using Gatsby or Gridsome.
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What tools integrate with Gatsby?
What tools integrate with Gridsome?

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What are some alternatives to Gatsby and Gridsome?
Hugo
Hugo is a static site generator written in Go. It is optimized for speed, easy use and configurability. Hugo takes a directory with content and templates and renders them into a full html website. Hugo makes use of markdown files with front matter for meta data.
Next.js
Next.js is a minimalistic framework for server-rendered React applications.
React
Lots of people use React as the V in MVC. Since React makes no assumptions about the rest of your technology stack, it's easy to try it out on a small feature in an existing project.
Jekyll
Think of Jekyll as a file-based CMS, without all the complexity. Jekyll takes your content, renders Markdown and Liquid templates, and spits out a complete, static website ready to be served by Apache, Nginx or another web server. Jekyll is the engine behind GitHub Pages, which you can use to host sites right from your GitHub repositories.
Create React App
Create React apps with no build configuration.
See all alternatives