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Discussion on: Comparing Gatsby and Next.js for website development

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shifi profile image
Shifa Ur Rehman

Gatsby does a lot of things by default for you. That can be a pro for a newbie or an intermediate developer. Plugins only increase the curiosity. But for some people that's exactly the problem. When they can't control the complex behavior of something people seem to get annoyed and would like to write their own solutions. It's exactly just like a debate between using a frontend library or to write one's own css instead.

Having the flexibility of complex control sure does bring in the heat of doing everything by your own hands.

Now Gatsby is good, definitely good. Maybe on par with nextjs. But the real power of nextjs is the "barebones-ness" relative to gatsby and you'll see some very professional and expert developers advocating for that.

It was a nice read though. You really did a great job explaining the differences ^^

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alexadark profile image
Alexandra Spalato

You can also use gatsby "barebone" and write everything custom if you like, plugins are just an option to not reinvent the wheel not an obligation.
IMO it's really nice to have the option to use these plugins