Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GatsbyJS VS Webflow CMS

Compare GatsbyJS VS Webflow CMS and see what are their differences

GatsbyJS logo GatsbyJS

Blazing-fast static site generator for React

Webflow CMS logo Webflow CMS

Build professional dynamic websites without any code
  • GatsbyJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Webflow CMS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-27

GatsbyJS features and specs

  • Performance
    GatsbyJS pre-builds your site into static files for fast load times and instantaneous page loads thanks to features like code splitting, PRPL pattern, and Asset Optimization.
  • SEO-Friendly
    GatsbyJS generates static HTML, which helps search engines to index your site more effectively. Additionally, you have fine-grained control over metadata and other SEO optimizations.
  • Rich Plugin Ecosystem
    GatsbyJS boasts an extensive plugin ecosystem that covers a wide array of functionalities such as sourcing data from CMSs, adding analytics, integrating with various APIs, and much more.
  • Strong Community Support
    Gatsby has a robust and active community that provides ample documentation, tutorials, and support to help you get started and troubleshoot issues.
  • Secure and Scalable
    Since Gatsby sites are static, they are inherently more secure against traditional web-based vulnerabilities and can be scaled easily by deploying to a CDN.

Possible disadvantages of GatsbyJS

  • Build Time
    For larger sites, build times can become noticeably long as Gatsby rebuilds the entire site. This can be a bottleneck for frequent updates.
  • Less Suitable for Dynamic Content
    Since Gatsby generates static pages, it's less suited for applications that require real-time data updates or dynamic content unless they are integrated with client-side JS or third-party services.
  • Initial Setup Complexity
    Getting started with Gatsby can be complex for beginners unfamiliar with React and GraphQL, as it requires knowledge of these technologies.
  • GraphQL Learning Curve
    A significant part of customizing and extending Gatsby sites involves GraphQL queries, which can be a barrier for developers who are not yet familiar with GraphQL.
  • Plugin Quality Variability
    While Gatsby has a rich plugin ecosystem, the quality and maintenance of plugins can vary, requiring developers to vet the plugins they choose to integrate into their projects.

Webflow CMS features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Webflow CMS has an intuitive user interface that allows for easy content management and website design without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
  • Design Flexibility
    Webflow CMS offers a robust set of design tools that give users the freedom to create highly-customized layouts and styles directly from the browser.
  • Responsive Design
    Webflow automatically generates responsive designs for multiple screen sizes, which ensures that websites built with it look great on both desktop and mobile devices.
  • Hosting Included
    Webflow provides reliable hosting solutions, including fast CDN, which simplifies the process of publishing and ensures high performance for your site.
  • Integrated E-commerce
    Webflow CMS includes built-in e-commerce capabilities, enabling users to create, manage, and customize online stores easily.
  • Custom Content Structures
    Webflow allows for the creation of custom content structures and collections, making it easier to manage complex content architectures.
  • SEO Capabilities
    The platform includes powerful SEO tools that help users optimize their websites for search engines, including meta tags, Schema markup, and more.
  • Animations and Interactions
    Webflow offers advanced animation and interaction capabilities, allowing users to create engaging, interactive websites without additional scripts.

Possible disadvantages of Webflow CMS

  • Pricing
    Webflow CMS can be relatively expensive compared to other CMS platforms, especially when factoring in advanced features and hosting services.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than coding from scratch, Webflow still has a learning curve, especially for users not accustomed to design tools and concepts.
  • Limited Extension Ecosystem
    Webflow has fewer third-party plugins and extensions compared to other CMS platforms like WordPress, which can limit functionality.
  • Platform Lock-In
    Webflow exports static HTML/CSS/JS files, which makes transitioning to other CMS platforms more challenging if you decide to leave Webflow.
  • Content Management Limitations
    The CMS is not as robust as some dedicated content management systems, which might be limiting for complex data relationships or large-scale content sites.
  • Dependency on Webflow’s Hosting
    While Webflow provides hosting, there might be less flexibility compared to self-hosting solutions, and users must rely on Webflow's infrastructure.
  • Limited Blogging Features
    Webflow's blogging capabilities are not as extensive as platforms specifically designed for blogging, which might be a hindrance for content-heavy blogs.

GatsbyJS videos

The Great Gatsby - Movie Review by Chris Stuckmann

More videos:

  • Review - The Great Gatsby movie review
  • Review - The Ultimate Gatsby Moving Rubber Review!

Webflow CMS videos

Webflow CMS for beginners

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GatsbyJS and Webflow CMS)
CMS
52 52%
48% 48
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Website Builder
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GatsbyJS and Webflow CMS

GatsbyJS Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
Gatsby JS is a free, open-source, React-based framework that is used to create static websites. It has a great ecosystem of plugins that serve various needs like sourcing data from CMSs, integrating tools, managing images using lazy loading, and more.
Source: solguruz.com
Top 10 Next.js Alternatives You Can Try
Gatsby allows you to add plugins with versatile functions and customization to increase your efficiency when developing websites. Here, you can use multiple styling approaches like Sass and CSS-in-JS library solutions to build web pages more smoothly. Moreover, using Gatsby as an alternative to Next.Js provides you with a complete learning guide to enhance your developing...
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
A React-based maestro, Gatsby transforms the way sites come to life by hooking into a rich set of data sources. Picture this: a web that’s blazing fast, where your creations go live almost before you hit ‘publish’. That’s Gatsby for you. Inside its engine, it’s got GraphQL superpowers, making data dancing across your pages a breeze.
10 Best Next.js Alternatives to Consider Today
A React-based framework, Gatsby excels in crafting static websites renowned for their exceptional performance. Leveraging GraphQL, Gatsby efficiently pulls data from diverse sources, empowering developers to build dynamic, data-driven websites effortlessly. Its expansive plugin ecosystem allows seamless integration with various data providers, content management systems...
20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Gatsby lets users pull data from any data source imaginable – CMS like WordPress, Drupal, Netlify, Contentful, etc., or APIs, databases, or simple markdown. Unlike Next.js, which we discussed above, Gatsby does not perform server-side rendering. Instead, it generates HTML content on the client side during build time. As a result, Gatsby delivers blazing-fast performance,...

Webflow CMS Reviews

Resources20+ Non-Traditional Tools to Make Your Website
Build professional dynamic http://s without any code. Webflow CMS Easily create well-structured content with custom fields. It gives you full control over your content structure and how this content is designed throughout your project.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GatsbyJS should be more popular than Webflow CMS. It has been mentiond 16 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GatsbyJS mentions (16)

  • React SEO: How to Build Search-Friendly Pages in React
    The most famous frameworks for developing SSR applications are Gatsby and Next.js. Although there are differences between them, their main goal is similar: to allow next-generation web applications to remain blazing-fast. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • External content for GatsbyJS
    If you enjoy React and want a standard-compliant and high performance web, you should look at GatsbyJS. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Replatforming from Gatsby to Zola!
    Since around 2019 I have used Gatsby as my static site generator. Its plugin system makes it super feature extensible. It uses React under the hood which makes components easy to write and has tons of community support. Once I had a Gatsby site styled and running, publishing blog posts is fairly trivial:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Build a Documentation Website with Gatsby in 10 Mins
    Smooth DOC is a ready-to-use Gatsby theme to create a documentation website. Creating a pro-quality website like this one takes weeks. Smooth DOC saves you time and lets you focus on the content. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Where to begin?
    I'd start with learning HTML and CSS first, then Javascript after those. There are a lot of free online resources for learning those. For websites, I use jekyll which is a great way to start off because there are a lot of community website templates that you can customize, which is great for beginners and learning. Then I'd recommend learning/moving to React. The Gatsby website generator would be good for React... Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Webflow CMS mentions (5)

  • Build a custom CMS using Baserow and integrate it with Make and Webflow 💻
    If you connect Baserow with Webflow through Make, you can build a custom and flexible content management system for your blog, website, or app. Let’s dive into how to do it! Source: over 2 years ago
  • What theme is this / Close to this
    Blog.dropcommerce.com is built with WEBFLOW website builder. Even though a bit custom it might be replicated at https://webflow.com/cms. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Scroll to reveal in Elementor?
    I'm trying for like 4 days straight to achieve effect like below in Elementor. It's quite easy if the image will have position: absolute/fixed, but then the image is out of the grid. I tried a section with 2 columns, left w. text, right with image being sticked to the top, and then duplicating it 3 times, but there's the initial scroll of the images on the right anyway. I played with transparency scroll effect... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: How do you manage your site content in 2022
    Each day, our content writers publish one post. At the moment we use WebFlow CMS [1], which was easy to setup, but its limitations start to show as we grow our publishing rate (no real collaboration, weird editor, etc.). How do you publish content (multiple writers, technical and non-technical posts with rich media, SEO friendly)? [1] https://webflow.com/cms. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • 'No-code' startup Bubble raises $100 mln in round led by Insight Partners
    Webflow has CMS now: https://webflow.com/cms. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GatsbyJS and Webflow CMS, you can also consider the following products

Jekyll - Jekyll is a simple, blog aware, static site generator.

Bubble.io - Building tech is slow and expensive. Bubble is the most powerful no-code platform for creating digital products.

Hugo - Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages.

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Carrd - Simple, responsive one-page site creator.