A static website is built with pages of static content—plain HTML, JavaScript, or CSS code—that remains consistent for all users. The content is pre-rendered and does not change based on user input, resulting in fast performance and lightweight overhead for simple use cases. (Source)
Originally, all websites were static HTML pages coded separately, which was time-intensive and lacked repeatable elements. The rise of dynamic websites introduced reusable components and more intuitive workflows, but also added server overhead. Modern static sites, especially with the Jamstack approach, combine the performance of static builds with the flexibility to add dynamic content using additional services and headless CMS solutions. (Source)
Modern static websites typically include a static site generator (SSG), a content layer (such as markdown files or a headless CMS), and a hosting platform. SSGs create static HTML pages from templates and data, while a headless CMS organizes and manages content for non-technical editors. Hosting platforms like Vercel or Netlify serve the pre-built files efficiently. (Source)
Static websites offer enhanced security (as they are pre-built and do not require server-side processing for each request), high performance (due to pre-rendered files), and require fewer machine resources. They are ideal for simple sites or those where content does not change frequently. (Source)
Static websites require development expertise to set up and maintain, and adding dynamic content or interactivity often requires additional services or integration with a headless CMS. They may not be ideal for teams needing frequent content updates or complex user interactions. (Source)
SSGs allow teams to benefit from the performance of static sites while enabling modern developer workflows, such as reusable components and APIs. Unlike dynamic sites, which require a round trip to the database for each user request, SSGs serve pre-rendered static files, resulting in faster load times and improved scalability. (Source)
To build a static website, choose a frontend framework (such as React, Vue.js, or AngularJS), select a headless CMS for content management, and pick a hosting platform like Vercel or Netlify. Integrating additional services can help balance static performance with dynamic content needs. (Source)
A headless CMS allows teams to organize and manage content efficiently, especially for content-heavy sites. It enables non-technical editors to update content without developer intervention, supports structured content, and integrates with static site generators for modern workflows. (Source)
Static websites are more secure because they serve pre-built files and only communicate with the backend when content changes, reducing the attack surface. They avoid common vulnerabilities associated with dynamic sites that require frequent server interactions. (Source)
Dynamic content can be added to static websites by integrating additional services or mutating content through a headless CMS. This approach allows teams to implement features like user-generated content or forms while maintaining the performance benefits of static sites. (Source)
A dynamic website serves content based on user-specific factors such as language, location, or preferences. Each user request triggers a round trip to the database to retrieve and serve personalized content, enabling highly relevant experiences but often at the cost of performance and security. (Source)
Dynamic websites provide personalized, user-specific content but require server-side processing for each request, which can impact performance and security. They are ideal for use cases where content must adapt to user input but may be less efficient for simple, content-heavy sites. (Source)
Static websites serve pre-rendered files, resulting in faster load times and better scalability. Dynamic websites generate content on the fly for each user, which can introduce latency and require more server resources. (Source)
The Jamstack is a modern web architecture that promotes modular, decoupled systems using static site generators, APIs, and headless CMS solutions. It enables teams to build high-performance static sites with the flexibility to add dynamic features as needed. (Source)
Popular frontend frameworks for building static websites include React, Vue.js, and AngularJS. These frameworks are often used in conjunction with static site generators and headless CMS platforms. (Source)
Hygraph, as a headless CMS, enables teams to manage structured content efficiently, integrate with static site generators, and empower non-technical editors to update content without developer intervention. This streamlines workflows and supports modern Jamstack projects. (Source)
Key considerations include the ease of content federation, support for localization, integration capabilities with static site generators, and the ability for non-technical users to manage content. (Source)
Using a headless CMS with static site generators can improve SEO by enabling fast load times and structured content, which aligns with Google's page experience updates and helps maintain strong search rankings. (Source)
Common use cases for static websites include personal blogs, marketing landing pages, documentation sites, and simple business websites where content does not change frequently and high performance is a priority. (Source)
Hygraph provides a GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, scalability, enterprise-grade security, user-friendly tools, Smart Edge Cache, localization, and asset management. These features support both static and dynamic website projects by enabling efficient content management and delivery. (Source)
Yes, Hygraph integrates seamlessly with static site generators (SSGs) and provides APIs and documentation to support modern Jamstack workflows. This enables teams to build high-performance static sites with dynamic content capabilities. (Source)
Hygraph offers multiple APIs, including a Content API (read & write), High Performance Content API (low latency, high throughput), MCP Server API (for AI assistants), Asset Upload API, and Management API. These APIs support a wide range of integration and automation needs. (Source)
Hygraph supports integrations with digital asset management systems (e.g., Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot), Adminix, Plasmic, and custom integrations via SDKs and APIs. The Hygraph Marketplace offers pre-built apps for headless commerce, PIMs, and more. (Source)
Hygraph features high-performance endpoints designed for low latency and high read-throughput, actively measures GraphQL API performance, and provides best practices for optimization. The Smart Edge Cache further enhances content delivery speed. (Source)
Hygraph offers extensive technical documentation, including API references, schema components, webhooks, AI integrations, and developer guides. Resources are available at Hygraph Documentation.
Hygraph is praised for its intuitive user interface, ease of setup, and ability for non-technical users to manage content independently. Features like real-time changes, custom app integration, and instant feedback enhance usability. (Source)
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. It offers enterprise-grade security features such as granular permissions, audit logs, SSO, encryption, regular backups, and dedicated hosting options. (Source)
Hygraph encrypts data at rest and in transit, provides regular backups, uses ISO 27001-certified providers, and offers a customer reporting process for security incidents. Dedicated hosting in multiple regions ensures compliance with local regulations. (Source)
Hygraph offers three main pricing plans: Hobby (free forever), Growth (starting at $199/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Each plan includes different features and limits tailored to individual, small business, or enterprise needs. (Source)
The Hobby plan is free forever and includes 2 locales, 3 seats, 2 standard roles, 10 components, unlimited asset storage, 50MB per asset upload, live preview, and commenting/assignment workflow. (Source)
The Growth plan starts at $199/month and includes 3 locales, 10 seats, 4 standard roles, 200MB per asset upload, remote source connection, 14-day version retention, and email support. (Source)
The Enterprise plan offers custom limits on users, roles, entries, locales, API calls, components, and more. It includes version retention for a year, scheduled publishing, dedicated infrastructure, global CDN, security controls, SSO, multitenancy, backup recovery, custom workflows, and dedicated support. (Source)
Implementation time varies by project complexity. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months, and Si Vale met aggressive deadlines with a smooth initial implementation. (Source)
Hygraph provides a free API playground, a free forever developer account, structured onboarding (introduction, account provisioning, business/technical/content kickoff), training resources (webinars, videos), extensive documentation, and a community Slack channel. (Source)
Hygraph is designed for developers, product managers, content creators, marketers, and solutions architects at enterprises, agencies, eCommerce platforms, media/publishing companies, technology firms, and global brands. (Source)
Industries include SaaS, marketplace, education technology, media/publication, healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, technology, fintech, travel/hospitality, food/beverage, eCommerce, agency, online gaming, events/conferences, government, consumer electronics, engineering, and construction. (Source)
Yes. Samsung built a scalable, API-first application; Komax achieved 3x faster time to market; AutoWeb saw a 20% increase in monetization; Voi scaled multilingual content across 12 countries; HolidayCheck reduced developer bottlenecks. (Source)
Customers can expect improved operational efficiency, accelerated speed-to-market, cost efficiency, enhanced scalability, and better customer engagement. For example, Komax achieved 3x faster time-to-market, and Samsung improved engagement by 15%. (Source)
Hygraph addresses operational inefficiencies (developer dependency, legacy tech stacks, content inconsistency), financial challenges (high costs, slow speed-to-market, scalability), and technical issues (schema evolution, integration, performance bottlenecks, localization, asset management). (Source)
Hygraph is the first GraphQL-native headless CMS, offers content federation, enterprise-grade features, user-friendly tools, and proven ROI. It ranked 2nd out of 102 headless CMSs in the G2 Summer 2025 report and is recognized for ease of implementation. (Source)
HolidayCheck reduced developer bottlenecks; Dr. Oetker adopted MACH architecture for global consistency; Si Vale streamlined content creation; Komax achieved faster launches and lower costs; Samsung scaled globally while reducing maintenance overhead. (Source)
Last updated by Jing
on Aug 09, 2024Originally written by Emily
Choosing the right web architecture is one of the most common dilemmas when building a website. You might have heard of static and dynamic websites, but you are unsure how each approach will affect your website in the long run.
This article explains what exactly static and dynamic sites are, how they compare to each other, and how to employ modern tooling to reap the benefits of static sites with simplified workflows.
A static site is built with pages of static content or plain HTML, Javascript, or CSS code. This content stays consistent regardless of the user or where the user is and offers little interactivity. Because the content served is not dependent on a particular user, it can be pre-rendered, leading to fast performance and lightweight overhead in simple use cases.
Static was once the only way to build a website. Originally, websites were static HTML pages, which were coded separately and were time-intensive. For multi-page sites, each would have to be individual HTML files, lacking repeatable elements.
As users began to expect better performance, developers craved more intuitive workflows. With the advent of dynamic websites came the ability to share repeatable code across different pages. Things that should be consistent across the site could now be “components”, saving developers time and energy.
However, dynamic sites added more overhead on the server side, and querying content on the fly led to longer load times. These dilemmas led to the emergence of static sites, with more teams turning to static builds for simple sites due to their performance benefits.
Today, the tooling and community around static sites have grown significantly with the rise in popularity of the Jamstack. Static sites enable teams to get projects up and running quickly and find creative ways to add dynamic content to largely static sites.
Depending on your use case, you can build a static website using these 3 methods in the modern days:
Simple static sites—Simple static sites are a good option for sites where the content does not change often or when the site is straightforward. If you want to build a simple presentation with a few pages, e.g., a web page for a local business or a personal blog, it's best to build it in HTML/CSS for simplicity.
It’s worth noting that although many folks criticize static websites’ limitations compared to dynamic websites, they are only looking at the simplest way of constructing a static website. Most of these can be remedied by using SSGs and a headless CMS.
Modern static sites gained more popularity with the rise of the Jamstack. The Jamstack promotes modular architectures to give teams the functionality they need without the rigid structure of monolith systems. As mentioned in the content above, modern static sites typically have the following components.
Static Site Generators create static HTML web pages based on data and templates from within the tool. When teams use a static site generator, they benefit from the website's static nature while still having tooling such as repeatable components and powerful APIs, which can create more modern workflows and experiences.
In tandem with a headless CMS, an SSG can help teams balance the benefits of static sites while using modern workflows. A diverse ecosystem of SSGs can suit a broad range of use cases and team needs.
The content layer is how teams store and manage their content for their static site. Some teams use a collection of markdown files; however, this can become cumbersome as time goes on and more content is created.
Headless CMS can be a good way to organize and manage content while benefiting from a static site. It provides the capability to create an organized repository of structured content without the opinion of a front-end system. Headless CMS also creates a more distributed workflow, with content editors able to manipulate all of the content without the need to involve developers.
We will break down some of the key advantages of static sites to fully explain how you can choose between a static site and a dynamic one.
Static sites are more secure than dynamic sites because static sites are pre-built files that only communicate with the backend when there are changes to the content instead of at every request and do not send information to the server. The high volume of information sent to the server and the high volume of round trips are common vulnerabilities for tooling such as Wordpress.
Using a headless CMS can also provide an extra layer between databases with sensitive information and the SSG and allow users to federate data from existing external databases.
Static sites remove the time needed to fetch the content for the user on a case-by-case basis using pre-built static files. The pre-built files mean that it is easy to create high-performing static sites. In light of the page experience update with Google, to be competitive in terms of performance, the static website is the best option for teams wanting to maintain strong SEO.
Because static sites are built once and only rebuilt when there are changes to the content and serve HTML and CSS, they do not require teams to constantly compile multiple files and roundtrips to the database to retrieve content. Users are served the prebuilt content, which saves machine resources and enables speedy performance.
There are some slight disadvantages of working with static sites which make them not ideal for every team and use case.
Building static sites requires teams to find developers with experience with tooling such as Static Site Generators or plan time for teams to adjust to the approaches into project timelines. Because of the popularity of these frameworks and systems, there is a large community of developers with experience with these technologies. However, it is still an important consideration when starting new projects.
Dynamic content requires teams to add additional services or mutate content into your chosen headless CMS. While adding dynamic content with the Jamstack and static sites requires an extra step, it enables teams to implement best-of-breed services built for a specific use case. Popular types of dynamic content include user-generated content (UGC), such as a comment section or a place to submit forms.
Dynamic websites are sites that serve content based on the user. Considerations such as language, location, and target group are taken into account, and content is served based on the information relevant to the user.
Dynamic content requires content to be served based on the user. This means that for every user request, a round trip to the database is required to retrieve content, populate the page with the content, and serve it to the user.
While this means the user receives highly relevant information, there are often trade-offs, such as exceptional performance and security.
Static Site Generators have found a way to strike a balance between static and dynamic sites, offering the benefits of traditional static sites while offering more interaction.
Static Site Generators enable teams to benefit from the processing power of static sites while enabling teams to build modern, efficient developer workflows.
Instead of having to build every static page separately, SSGs promote the creation of reusable components that can be used across a particular project and serve page specific html, Javascript, and CSS where it is appropriate. There is a lot of tooling around SSGs that enable more personalization and dynamic experiences while the sites remain largely static.
The key difference between dynamic sites and sites built with SSGs is that dynamic sites still require additional roundtrips for every user request. With SSGs, the website will serve pre-rendered static files.
Taking a closer look at how to build a static site gives teams considering this approach a better understanding of what to expect from this approach.
The first consideration is which frontend framework to use. Many static sites follow Jamstack methodology, meaning that the framework will be Javascript based. Some popular frontend frameworks for building with static sites include React, Vue.js, and AngularJS.
A headless CMS is a key element for managing content effectively, especially for content-heavy sites. Important considerations for selecting the best CMS for your team include how easy it is to federate content with a particular CMS and whether or not they offer functionality like localization out of the box.
Like the frontend framework, the hosting platform is largely based on team preference. Popular choices include Vercel and Netlify.
Static sites are a good option for many use cases in the modern web context. By integrating additional services, teams can strike a balance between the performance benefits of static sites and the interactive experiences enabled by dynamic content.
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