Is Gatsby worth using?
Tags: javascript, webdev, gatsby
Published: 2022-08-14 13:06:50

by [Yoma Daniel](https://blog.openreplay.com/authors/yoma-daniel)
 
Modern issues require modern solutions. Businesses and developers in the tech industry struggle to address issues like poor website load times, inadequate web security, subpar SEO, unimproved user experiences, and many others. These problems could cause setbacks to productivity.
 
Several technologies and frameworks have been developed as a result of the demand for solutions to website issues. These frameworks are designed to address issues and boost efficiency for organizations and developers.

[Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.com/) is a free, open-source framework based on [React](https://reactjs.org/) that programmers use to create quick, static, and durable applications and webpages.

This article will examine the benefits and drawbacks of this framework to determine whether it is worthwhile to use.
 
 
## Pros Of Gatsby

Here are some advantages adopting Gatsby can provide to developers and company owners.
 
**Outstanding Performance**
Gatsby includes built-in pre-rendering assets that are sites ready for a user's arrival, unlike other frameworks that run programs on a server and tell a user's browser what to produce. The static assets are created by Gatsby and then transferred into [**CDN**](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/cdn/what-is-a-cdn/), a worldwide content distribution network. The content of the website is then converted by CDN from the nearby server. As a result, page load times drastically decrease. Visitors to the website don't have to wait around for instructions or responses from the server.
 
**SEO Effectiveness**
It is difficult to understand how search engine optimization (SEO) functions, but Google has provided a list of the criteria it uses to choose which website will appear on the first page of search results. These factors include:

- [Core Web Vitals](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9205520?hl=en)
- The content quality;
- The effective usage of page metadata;
- Structured data; 
- The number of backlinks leading to a website.
 
Gatsby checks out each of these essential elements for the greatest outcomes, improving its SEO effectiveness, and with the [right configuration](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide), you are good to go.
 
**Fast Page Load Speed**
A fast page load speed is crucial because bounce rate is dependent on it. (The percentage of visitors that depart a website without visiting any more pages on it is known as the bounce rate.) Because your page loads faster and users aren't delayed while waiting for your website to load, they will fully explore your page thanks to built-in features like static file rendering and progressive picture loading.
 
**Security**
There are a few things that could go wrong with website security. Bad hackers want to be able to access hosting services, take control of a website, and exploit it for their gain. Since Gatsby has no server, it would be challenging to launch an attack on it. Additionally, there are fewer security inaccuracies because it is primarily used by specialists.
 
**Extensibility**
Due to Gatsby's ability to support various APIs and data sources, it is utilized in a wide variety of web applications.
It gathers information from several sources, making it the ideal option for companies who wish to use their website to integrate other applications related to their line of business. They might show quantifiable results of their business performance and outcome on their website.
 
**Accessibility**
Gatsby offers customers a wide range of tools to achieve excellent accessibility. Although using these tools requires a certain level of practicality, they are open for exploration and accessible to everybody. As a result, developers do not need to add any more plugins or extensions because everything is already installed.
[Here](https://www.gatsbyjs.com/blog/2019-04-18-gatsby-commitment-to-accessibility/) are some of the tools Gatsby has employed to achieve accessibility.
 
**Based On React**
Gatsby, another framework developed by Facebook, is built on React, as we mentioned at the beginning of the post. Due to its popularity among developers, React has a very wide community, and since Gatsby is built on it, it has access to endless resources to support its growth and upkeep, making it future-proof.
 
Gatsby offers you the finest features possible by adhering to the most recent web standards and technologies, such as [GraphQL](https://graphql.org/) and [Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/), in addition, to React.
 
**Greater Sustainability**
The supporting technologies must be updated frequently to stay up with a GatsbyJS project. The site may experience some minor difficulties as a result of these modifications, but they are often simple to fix.
Thankfully, these upgrades are not required regularly; rather, they are only required when a new Gatsby version is launched.
 
**Page Metadata**
Gatsby provides you complete control over the layout and content of a website.
Search engines can interpret a website's content and choose when to display it in search results when metadata like page names, alt texts, and meta descriptions are added to the website. As a result, when a Google search is performed, the website appears among the top-ranking results.
 
**Gatsby Cloud**
A unique cloud infrastructure is being used to create Gatsby sites. The following are some of its benefits:

- It offers real-time CMS preview adjustments. This eliminates any possibility of posting content updates incorrectly.
- A complete website's modification can be previewed by programmers before being included in the code.
- It offers incredibly quick incremental builds.
- It offers Lighthouse reports, a function that enables you to review automatically created ok information about the site's performance, accessibility, and result.


## Open Source Session Replay

_[OpenReplay](https://github.com/openreplay/openreplay) is an open-source, session replay suite that lets you see what users do on your web app, helping you troubleshoot issues faster. OpenReplay is self-hosted for full control over your data._

![replayer.png](https://static.openreplay.com/images/banner-blog.png)

_Start enjoying your debugging experience - [start using OpenReplay for free](https://github.com/openreplay/openreplay)._




## Cons Of Gatsby

Gatsby has also some disadvantages.

**Build Times**
The build time increases as you have more content Users may find this annoying because it makes them move more slowly. Even while there is a fix for this—Gatsby Cloud offers incremental builds that significantly cut build time—it isn't free, and any updates made won't be accessible right away.
 
**Absence Of Plug-And-Play Functionality**
Gatsby is a programming framework for creating websites and integrating them with other platforms, such as content management systems. There is no graphical user interface available.
And because of this, non-technical users are unable to install Gatsby and start using it right away. Before the website can be used, planning, designing, and development must be completed. For small firms that only wish to establish a few web pages, this can be difficult.
 
**Understanding A New CMS**
Users that switch from a framework like WordPress to Gatsby may find it challenging to learn or comprehend the new system, which will temporarily impair productivity.
 
**The Need To Update Scripts And Google Tag Manager**
Gatsby is a single page application, and as a result, [Google Analytics](https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/provision/#/provision) are unable to detect when a page has recent views.

For this to be corrected, all pages should be set up in the correct order, using [Google Tag Manager](https://tagmanager.google.com/#/home) and Google Analytics.

| PROS                      | CONS                                  |
|  ------                   |  -------                              |
| Outstanding performance   | Build times                           |
| SEO effectiveness         |Absence of plug-and-play functionality |
| Fast page load speed      | Understanding a new CMS               |
| Security                  | The need to update scripts            |
| Extensibility             | The need to update Google Tag Manager |
| Accessibility             |                                       |  
| Greater sustainability    |                                       |
| Page metadata             |                                       | 
| Gatsby cloud              |                                       |
 

## Alternatives To Gatsby

Here are a few excellent Gatsby substitutes:

- [Hugo](https://gohugo.io/)
- [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/)
- [React](https://reactjs.org/)
- [Hexo](https://hexo.io/)
- [VuePress](https://vuepress.vuejs.org/)
- [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/), [etc](https://stackshare.io/gatsbyjs/alternatives).

 

## Conclusion

So is Gatsby worth it? We have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Gatsby together. It is a fantastic framework with numerous solutions to issues faced by developers and companies. You should be able to determine if it best meets your goals based on its benefits and drawbacks. We hope this article has been helpful!
 
 
> A TIP FROM THE EDITOR: If you want to see some actual applications, check our [Building a photo gallery app with Gatsby and GraphCMS](https://blog.openreplay.com/building-a-photo-gallery-app-with-gatsby-and-graphcms) and [Content Management Systems for Gatsby](https://blog.openreplay.com/content-management-systems-for-gatsby) articles.


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