Key takeaway: Nothing new should start here. The reason to read this page is that you already own a Gatsby site and need to decide between leaving it alone and planning an exit. My answer is usually leave it alone until you replatform anyway, with Astro as the destination for content sites and Next.js for anything application-shaped.
Quick facts
- LanguageJavaScript
- CategoryReact-based
- LicenseMIT
- Created2015
- GitHub stars55.2k
- Statusdeclining
Templating: JSX TSX Markdown MDX
What it is
Gatsby was the framework that defined the Jamstack era from 2017-2021, React + GraphQL data layer + an enormous plugin ecosystem. Acquired by Netlify in 2023, then most of the engineering team departed. The framework is still maintained but the rate of change slowed and most new projects pick Astro or Next.js instead.
Best for
- Existing Gatsby sites with no compelling reason to migrate
- Teams that already know the Gatsby + GraphQL data layer
- Sites where the plugin ecosystem has a piece you cannot easily replace
When not to pick it
For new projects in 2026, the honest answer is to pick Astro or Next.js instead. Gatsby is in a slow decline and the maintenance trajectory is uncertain.
My take
I would not start a new project in Gatsby today. If you are on Gatsby and stable, do not migrate for the sake of it, but plan for an eventual move when you replatform.
The GraphQL data layer you inherit
Gatsby's defining decision was to put every piece of content, from Markdown files to CMS records to image metadata, behind a single generated GraphQL schema. Source plugins create nodes, the schema is inferred from them, and components query for exactly what they need. When it works it is elegant, and merging four content sources into one queryable graph was genuinely ahead of what anyone else offered at the time. The problems are the ones you feel five years later. Schema inference turns a missing field into an exercise in archaeology. Every component is coupled to a query, so changing the content model touches the whole tree. And none of that knowledge transfers anywhere else, which means the developer you hire to maintain it has to learn a framework nobody is picking up voluntarily any more. That is the real cost of staying put.
Planning the exit without breaking anything
If the site is stable and the content rarely changes, do nothing. The forcing function is usually not features, it is dependency drift: Node version support, security advisories in the plugin tree, and build tooling that increasingly disagrees with the rest of your stack. When that starts costing days, migrate. What moves easily is the content itself, since Markdown and MDX travel and CMS-sourced content is just a different fetch. What does not move is every GraphQL query, the image component usage, the Link and Head APIs, and any behaviour a source plugin was quietly providing on your behalf. Budget for rewriting the view layer rather than porting it. Whatever you choose, freeze the URL structure first and ship the redirect map in the same commit as the launch, using permanent redirects, because a replatform is exactly where rankings get thrown away.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gatsby still maintained?
It still receives maintenance, but the pace slowed sharply after the Netlify acquisition and the departure of most of the original engineering team. Treat it as a framework in decline: fine to keep running an existing site on, unwise to start something new that you expect to maintain for the next five years.
Should I migrate off Gatsby?
Not for its own sake. If the site builds, deploys, and does its job, migration is expensive work with no user-visible payoff. Migrate when something else forces the issue: a redesign, a CMS change, a Node upgrade you cannot make, or a security advisory in the plugin tree you cannot resolve cleanly.
Gatsby or Astro for a new content site?
Astro, without hesitation. It covers the same use case, ships far less JavaScript, has an image pipeline that matches what Gatsby pioneered, and is growing rather than shrinking. The only argument for Gatsby on a new project is an existing team that knows it deeply and will not learn anything else.
Links
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If Gatsby is your pick, the next conversation is short
The 30-min call is where your project gets a real architecture, an SEO transport plan, and a price range you can take to your team. Describe your site, your timeline, your existing content. I tell you whether Gatsby is genuinely the right call for you, and what the build actually looks like.