astro-vs-eleventy.html

Astro vs Eleventy (11ty) — which one wins for your brief, in 2026

Two static site generators, side by side. Astro is multi-framework, content-first, ships zero js by default. the default for seo-heavy sites. Eleventy (11ty) is zero-config js-based ssg. templates only, no client-side js framework. The verdict, the criteria, and the honest take below.

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Verdict in one paragraph

Eleventy wins for small-to-medium content sites where a UI framework would be overhead. Astro wins as soon as the site needs components, type-safety, or scales past a few hundred pages. Both are excellent at their respective scopes; the pick is whether you want a UI framework story at all.

Score across the criteria: Astro 3 · Eleventy (11ty) 2

Side by side

Astro
Eleventy (11ty)
Language
TypeScript
JavaScript
Category
Multi-framework
JS / TS plain
License
MIT
MIT
Created
2021
2018
GitHub stars
49.5k
18.2k
Status
active
active

Decision criteria

  • Which is simpler for a 50-page blog?

    Eleventy (11ty)

    Eleventy with Markdown and Liquid is genuinely the cleanest path for a small content site. No framework overhead, faster cold-start in dev.

  • Which scales to 50,000+ pages?

    Astro

    Astro's Content Layer and incremental rebuild story handles large catalogues better. Eleventy at scale needs careful caching and the full-rebuild cost grows.

  • Which has a real component model?

    Astro

    Astro components with optional islands of React / Vue / Svelte. Eleventy has WebC and JS templates but the ergonomics lag.

  • Which is better for type-safety?

    Astro

    Astro Content Collections with Zod schemas surface type errors at build time. Eleventy is JavaScript-loose by default.

  • Which is faster to build?

    Eleventy (11ty)

    For small to medium catalogues, Eleventy builds faster than Astro. Past ~5k pages the gap closes and Astro's incremental story pulls ahead.

What Astro is best for

  • Marketing sites and landing pages where Core Web Vitals matter
  • Documentation, blogs, and content hubs
  • Programmatic SEO at scale (HostList: 25k pages, Deluxe Astrology: 91k pages)
  • Multi-framework teams sharing a single static site
  • Migration off WordPress when content is structured cleanly

Read the full Astro entry: /static-site-generators/astro/

What Eleventy (11ty) is best for

  • Personal blogs and small content sites
  • Sites where the team explicitly does not want a UI framework
  • Replacing Jekyll while staying in the JS ecosystem
  • Speedy builds on small to medium catalogues

Read the full Eleventy (11ty) entry: /static-site-generators/eleventy/

The easy half is the SSG choice — your build is the hard one

If your project is shipping in the next 6 months, the 30-min call is where the comparison becomes a real plan — your stack, your build phases, your SEO transport, your price range. Describe your project; I tell you whether Astro or Eleventy (11ty) (or something else) is genuinely your fit.