Gatsby vs Next JS : What is Your Choice?

Technology is changing at a faster pace than one can ever imagine. From vacuum tubes to smart processors we have come along a very long way. It seems there are so many improvements yet to be made. One such field affected by the improvements in technology is Website development. Since the internet era, websites have become essential. At the present time, it is very important to have your website.

Having a website increases your chances of getting new leads and customers manyfold. From basic HTML websites to dynamic websites the whole website development scenario has changed drastically. It was not long ago, that the only tools we had included HTML and Java but now we have a huge variety of tools available. It is only normal to be confused about which one to choose.

While making such a decision upon choosing the tool to develop a website it is necessary to consider your objectives and the features you want to include in the website. One such confusion arises when it comes to Gatsby vs Next JS. The decision would have been much simpler a few months back before both were updated. Before the recent updates, if you had to build a static website Gatsby was the best option and in the case of dynamic websites, Next JS would have been the better option.

But since then times have changed. Now both Gatsby and Next JS are capable of building Static as well as dynamic websites. The recent updates make it difficult to decide which one to choose.

Basic knowledge of both will prove to be helpful in deciding whether to go for Gatbsy or Next JS.

What is Gatsby?

Gatsby is an open-source framework that is used for creating websites and apps. It is an open-source framework.

Gatsby is a great tool to use when you are building blogs or a portfolio site as well as a high-traffic e-commerce store or company website.

Gatsby has recently made this change from being a static website creator to a dynamic one as well. Meaning now you can create not just blog site but e-commerce sites as well, where the data needs to be updated many times on a frequent basis.

Here are some of the features of Gatsby:

• Websites built using Gatsby are SEO They can be easily ranked.
• Gatsby sites do not require complex scaling Websites are built using the Gatsby scale when needed and if the traffic goes down so does the cost.

• While using Gatsby to build a website there is no need for manual tuning. Gatsby automates image optimization, code splitting, image optimization, and many more to ensure that your site is fully optimized and ready to launch like a rocket.

• “A Gatsby site’s attack surface is nonexistent” quoted in their official docs website. Gatsby generates Static HTML at build time using serverless Since there are no servers involved which means it is not possible for any malicious requests.

• It is an easy-to-learn language since it is based on React The only perquisites would involve good knowledge of JAVASCRIPT. Of course, HTML and CSS go with it without saying.

• Data fetching is much easier using GraphQL. GraphQL is a query language and is used to manage throughout the application.

• Gatsby comes with a lot of APIs that make the whole process of development much.

• Gatsby allows you to add metadata to your Metadata includes page titles, meta descriptions, and alt texts. All these help in ranking a website higher in Google search results. Higher the ranking more the traffic coming on to your website.

• It is easy to create landing pages for products using Gatsby which can be easily SEO optimized.

• Gatsby follows the latest Web Standards.

• It is an easy-to-learn Prior knowledge of JavaScript will prove to be helpful when learning Gatsby.

• Gatsby also has a large community which comes in handy while facing some new problems.

• The hosting cost of Gatsby is much lower and it also has its own Cloud Platform.

Some popular websites built using Gatsby are :

• The Impossible Foods

• Airbnb

• The Just Do It promotional Nike website

What is Next JS?

Next, JS is a JavaScript framework. It was created by Zeit. Next JS can build server-side rendering and static web applications. It uses React to do the same. Next JS is quite an advanced language to learn so it is advisable to first be familiar with React and then move on to Next JS.

Benefits of using Next JS :

• Websites built using Next JS are Hence a user can access the website on any device.

• A well-built website ensures a better user experience which in turn means a better conversion.

• Next JS has a built-in Image component and Automatic Image optimization which automatically optimizes.

• Next JS can be used to build large dynamic websites or large multi-user.

• Websites built using Next JS are Hence the website can be accessed on any device.

• Next JS has community support which can help while building

Some popular websites built using Next JS are :

• Twitch
• Tik Tok
• Github Copilot
• Hulu
• Nike
• Realtor
• Audible
• Marvel

Similarities: Gatsby vs Next JS :

• Next JS and Gatsby, both provide a boilerplate application, which saves some time while developing a website.

• Next JS and Gatsby can be used to generate SEO-friendly websites and are incredibly performant.

• Next JS and Gatsbyboth can be used to create Single Page Applications.

• Next JS and Gatsby both provide an awesome developer experience.

• Next JS and Gatsby both offer high performance.

• Next JS and Gatsby both are React Based Frameworks.

• Next JS and Gatsby both support server-side rendering as well as client-side rendering.

• Next JS and Gatsby both have the ability of code splitting and code caching whereas Next JS is better in terms of code Code splitting is a feature that needs to be used in dynamic websites, which makes the application lightweight and faster.

• SEOmonitor

• React

Understanding what both these tools are capable of when creating a website will give a clear direction in terms of which to use.

Gatsby vs Next JS? Which one to choose should be made by considering the following points:

• What are your objectives?
• What language are you more familiar with?
• What features do you want to include in your website?
• What is the budget of the website?
• Is it a static website or a dynamic website?

There can be many more parameters as well when it comes to deciding Gatsby vs Next JS.

Concluding one is better than the other is not something that can be done based solely on the features. It varies from person to person and from need to needs. Does your business need speed to offer a seamless customer experience, we are here to help! Get in touch!