How to choose the best CMS for your Gatsby project

Gatsby is a free, open-source, React-based framework designed to help developers build performant websites and applications. In plain terms, we can say Gatsby is a static site generator (SSG) that leverages React.

But you need to know Gatsby is not what it used to be six years ago when it was the golden standard for building static sites. On the technology side, Gatsby offered and still offers blazing-fast performance, an incredibly powerful GraphQL data layer, and an ecosystem packed with plugins and integrations.

But the reality today is different. Gatsby isn’t dead, but it’s also not the hot new thing anymore. Over the past few years, its dominance has declined. Next.js, Astro, and other frameworks have taken a big share of the Jamstack market.

That said, Gatsby is still very much in use. Despite the skepticism, the framework continues to see over 300K weekly downloads on NPM, and developers are still filing issues on GitHub and engaging with the repository.

So, Gatsby is still a solid choice for static-heavy sites, performance-focused projects, and teams that already know its ecosystem. So, if you’re working on a Gatsby project, you need to be strategic. One of the most important choices you’ll make is picking the right CMS. Because while Gatsby is still a great tool, its long-term viability depends on how well it integrates with a flexible, fast, and API-first CMS.

Let’s break down how to make that decision.

#Why use a headless CMS for Gatsby?

In the early days of Gatsby, many developers managed content using Markdown files or pulled data from traditional CMSs like WordPress. That worked fine for simple sites, but as projects grew, teams needed a more flexible and scalable way to handle content — something that didn’t slow down development or make content updates difficult.

That’s why many Gatsby developers today prefer headless CMSs. Instead of being tied to a specific frontend, a headless CMS delivers content via an API, allowing Gatsby to fetch exactly what it needs and pre-render pages efficiently.

If you’re building a Gatsby project in 2025, a headless CMS is probably your best bet. Here’s why:

1. Better performance & faster builds: One of Gatsby’s biggest strengths is its speed, but that depends on how quickly it can fetch and process content. Traditional CMSs often rely on server-side rendering, which can slow things down. A headless CMS, on the other hand, delivers structured content via APIs, making Gatsby builds faster and more efficient.

2. Flexibility in frontend development: A headless CMS doesn’t dictate how content is displayed, meaning you can use Gatsby for the web but also reuse the same content for mobile apps, smart devices, and even digital signage. Traditional CMSs struggle with this multi-channel capability.

3. Decoupled architecture for scalability: Gatsby pulls content at build time, meaning your CMS isn’t involved in serving pages to users. This reduces server load and makes your project more scalable, since the CMS is only used when content updates need to be published.

4. Improved security: Since Gatsby generates static HTML files, there’s no database or backend to be exploited by hackers. When using a headless CMS, the content is managed separately from the frontend, making it harder for security vulnerabilities to impact the website.

5. Seamless content editing for non-developers: With a headless CMS, marketers and content teams can edit content through an intuitive UI without relying on developers. When changes are made, Gatsby can trigger a rebuild, ensuring the latest content is always live.

6. GraphQL support for structured content: Gatsby has built-in GraphQL support, which makes working with structured data from a headless CMS seamless. Some CMSs like Hygraph offer native GraphQL APIs, which means querying and managing content in Gatsby is smooth and efficient.

#How to choose the right CMS for your Gatsby project

Choosing a CMS for Gatsby isn't just about picking the one with the most features. It’s about finding a system that fits into your workflow, keeps build times manageable, and makes content updates smooth.

I’ve worked on projects where the wrong CMS choice turned small content edits into a frustrating process, slowing down development and making Gatsby feel like more of a burden than a benefit. But I’ve also seen how the right CMS can make Gatsby feel effortless, letting developers focus on building rather than fighting with content management issues.

Here’s what actually matters when picking a CMS for Gatsby.

1. Content structure and flexibility matter more than you think

One of Gatsby’s biggest strengths is how well it handles structured data, but not all CMSs make this easy. Some give you basic content types like “blog post” and “page,” but when you need something more custom like a case study with different sections, or a team directory with linked profiles, you start running into limitations.

A good CMS should let you define content models that fit your project without forcing awkward workarounds. If you find yourself cramming unrelated data into a single text field or manually linking entries because the CMS doesn’t support relationships, it’s a sign that the CMS is working against you instead of with you.

2. A slow API will ruin your build times

If you’ve ever worked on a Gatsby site where a simple content update triggered a 10-minute build, you know how frustrating this can be. Gatsby pulls data from the CMS at build time, and if that process is slow because of poor API performance or rate limits, you’ll feel it.

A good CMS should have a fast API that delivers content efficiently. Some CMSs have bloated APIs that require multiple requests just to get related content, which slows down Gatsby’s ability to generate pages. Others impose rate limits, meaning large sites with frequent updates can hit bottlenecks.

Some headless CMSs like Hygraph are built with GraphQL at its core, meaning queries are optimized and return only the data Gatsby needs. That makes a real difference in build times, especially for content-heavy sites.

3. Scalability matters even if you’re not thinking about it now

A CMS might seem fine when you're launching a small site, but if it slows down when you start adding thousands of pages, multilingual content, or multiple editors, you’ll regret the choice later.

Some CMSs work well for small projects but start lagging or becoming difficult to manage as content grows. If you’re building something that will expand over time, it’s worth choosing a CMS that can handle large datasets, localization, and complex content structures from the start.

4. Your content team shouldn’t struggle to use it

Developers aren’t the only ones who will interact with the CMS. If a CMS has a confusing UI, lacks content previews, or requires too much technical knowledge, your content team will end up frustrated, or worse, they’ll keep working outside the CMS in Google Docs or Notion, forcing developers to manually copy-paste updates.

A good CMS should be easy for non-technical users to navigate. It should have:

• A clean and intuitive UI that doesn’t require training to use.

• Content previews, so editors can see changes before publishing.

• Role-based permissions, so teams can manage content without the risk of breaking the site.

#Why Hygraph is the best CMS for Gatsby

I’ve worked with a fair share of CMSs on Gatsby projects — some made things smooth, while others made even simple content updates a frustrating mess. When it comes to speed, flexibility, and long-term maintainability, Hygraph is one of the few that actually delivers without unnecessary complexity.

Since Gatsby is built around GraphQL, using a CMS that natively supports it makes content fetching seamless. With Hygraph, Gatsby can pull in exactly what it needs in a single query, without unnecessary transformations or multiple API calls. This keeps development clean and efficient.

Hygraph is also designed for speed, ensuring that content loads quickly and builds remain efficient, even for large-scale projects as slow APIs lead to long Gatsby build times, making content updates frustrating.

Beyond performance, content modeling can make or break a CMS choice as we learned earlier. Some CMSs force rigid templates, requiring workarounds to fit project needs. Hygraph provides full flexibility, allowing custom content structures that adapt to your project, not the other way around.

Hygraph is also easy for content teams to use. A CMS should empower editors, not create roadblocks. Hygraph’s UI makes content management intuitive, so non-developers can update content without constantly relying on developers.

Finally, scalability matters. What works for a small project today might become a limitation as content grows. Hygraph is built to scale, handling everything from simple blogs to enterprise platforms without slowing down.

With strong performance, flexible content structuring, and an intuitive interface, Hygraph removes the friction from managing content in Gatsby projects, letting teams focus on building better digital experiences.

#How to build a website with Gatsby and Hygraph

To get started, create an account on Hygraph. Once inside, you can either define your own schema or select one of the pre-configured templates to speed things up.

Next, integrate Hygraph with your Gatsby project by installing Apollo Client and GraphQL. Run the following command in your Gatsby project to install the required dependencies:

npm install @apollo/client graphql

Now, initialize Apollo Client with your Hygraph GraphQL API endpoint, ensuring Gatsby can query and retrieve content seamlessly.

// src/apollo/client.js

import ApolloClient from 'apollo-boost';

// Initialize Apollo Client with the URI of your GraphQL endpoint
const client = new ApolloClient({
  uri: 'https://api-<region>.hygraph.com/v2/<some-hash>/master', // Replace with your actual endpoint
});

export default client;

Once the setup is complete, fetching and using data in Gatsby is straightforward. By using Apollo Client’s useQuery hook, you can pull in content from Hygraph and render it in your Gatsby pages. The following example fetches product data and displays it dynamically.

import React from 'react';
import { ApolloProvider, useQuery, gql } from '@apollo/client';
import client from '../apollo/client';

// GraphQL query to fetch data
const GET_PRODUCTS_QUERY = gql`
  query GetProducts {
    products {
      name
      description
      image
      availability
      slug
    }
  }
`;

// Component to fetch and display data
const ProductsList = () => {
  const { loading, error, data } = useQuery(GET_PRODUCTS_QUERY);

  if (loading) return <p>Loading...</p>;
  if (error) return <p>Error: {error.message}</p>;

  return (
    <div>
      {data.products.map(product => (
        <div key={product.slug}>
          <h2>{product.name}</h2>
          <p>{product.description}</p>
          <img src={product.image} alt={product.name} />
          <p>{product.availability ? 'Available' : 'Out of stock'}</p>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
};

// Wrap the component in ApolloProvider
const Products = () => (
  <ApolloProvider client={client}>
    <h1>Products</h1>
    <ProductsList />
  </ApolloProvider>
);

export default Products;

With everything connected, your Gatsby site is now backed by a scalable, headless CMS, allowing you to manage content efficiently while keeping the frontend lightweight and optimized.

#What next?

Now that you’ve seen how to integrate Hygraph with Gatsby, there’s plenty more you can explore to fine-tune your setup.

If you are sure Gatsby is not the best fit for your project, Hygraph is frontend-agnostic, meaning you can pair it with other frameworks like Next.js, Astro, or even a custom React setup. If you ever decide to switch frameworks, your content remains structured and ready to use anywhere.

Whichever direction you take, Hygraph gives you the flexibility to build the way you want, so start building with Gatsby and Hygraph today. 🚀