shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use 11ty?

A simpler static site generator - 11ty.dev

Depends. Buy if you are a developer (or have one) building a fast content site and want zero licence cost. Skip it if you need a website builder, WYSIWYG editing, paid support, or an app with user logins.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated and no G2/G2-style ratings exist for this free project.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityCommunity-only help; no vendor SLA evidence.
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Open source

ModelDonations
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Developer-built marketing sites
  • Blogs and documentation
  • Headless CMS front ends
  • Performance-critical static sites

Not for

  • Non-technical teams wanting a drag-and-drop builder
  • Buyers who need vendor support or an SLA — none exists
  • Apps with user accounts and server-side data
  • Teams unwilling to maintain Node tooling

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

No paid support or SLA exists; help is docs, forums, and community goodwill.

medium

Sustainability fundraising shows funding is fragile; long-term roadmap can wobble.

medium

Migrating from WordPress means rebuilding templates yourself; no importer is mentioned.

low

Buyers ask whether the project is actively managed; verify activity before betting a business site.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source; no licence or seat costs.
  • Supports many template languages, including Nunjucks and custom ones.
  • Users report fast output; static sites scaled well against in testing.
  • Developer reviews are largely positive: 'I used 11ty and... It's awesome'.
  • Official npm publishing hardening and a private vulnerability reporting policy.

Cons

  • Requires Node and coding skills; community says adopt 'only if' you're a developer.
  • No company behind it; roadmap depends on donations and sponsors.
  • Community unease about project direction and rebrand ('The End of Eleventy').
  • Content editing requires wiring up a separate headless CMS.
  • One ecosystem npm plugin was flagged as malicious.

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/26/2026 - 14 sources - Core project maintains a security policy and hardened npm publishing; no core breaches found, but one malicious third-party plugin and dependency audit warnings exist.

official x6review x5security x2news x1
  • Malicious npm plugin '11ty-simple-page-post-creator', Snyk flagged this third-party ecosystem package as malicious; it is a plugin, not core Eleventy.
  • Dependency audit warnings (prototype pollution in async), npm audit raised prototype pollution in the async dependency; tracked in repo issue #2327.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free forever; your only cost is time.
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Smooth for developers; steep for non-coders.
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Multiple template languages, plugins, on-demand rendering.
  • Support quality. Community-only help; no vendor SLA evidence.
  • Security posture: 3/5. Hardened core processes; ecosystem plugins carry risk.
  • Free Price Open-source project, no paid tiers
  • Donations Business model Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors
  • Since 2022 Full-time OSS funding Sponsored development announced Feb 2022

Pricing

Open source

Free

  • Full static site generator
  • All plugins and template languages
  • Donation-funded; no paid tier exists

Security

Core project maintains a security policy and hardened npm publishing; no core breaches found, but one malicious third-party plugin and dependency audit warnings exist.

  • Malicious npm plugin '11ty-simple-page-post-creator'Snyk flagged this third-party ecosystem package as malicious; it is a plugin, not core Eleventy.12
  • Dependency audit warnings (prototype pollution in async)npm audit raised prototype pollution in the async dependency; tracked in repo issue #2327.13

Alternatives

Compare 11ty with each alternative.

  • Hugo

    Free, extremely fast static generator; no Node toolchain required.

    11ty vs Hugo

  • Astro

    Developer SSG with components; the most frequent Eleventy comparison.

    11ty vs Astro

  • WordPress

    Better for non-technical editors; heavier and needs paid hosting.

Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated and no G2/G2-style ratings exist for this free project.

Free, donation-funded static site generator. Great for developers; wrong for non-technical teams or anyone needing vendor support.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated and no G2/G2-style ratings exist for this free project.

Sources

  1. Eleventy is a simpler static site generator11ty.dev
    official
  2. Template Languages - Eleventy11ty.dev
    official
  3. Help 11ty become sustainable in 202411ty.dev
    official
  4. Securely Publishing our Packages to npm - Eleventy11ty.dev
    official
  5. Eleventy on Open Collectiveopencollective.com
    official
  6. Full Time Open Source Development for Eleventy, sponsored11ty.dev
    official
  7. I used 11ty and... It's awesome - James Hilljameshill.dev
    review
  8. 11ty: The Good, the Bad, and the... Possum?aleksandrhovhannisyan.com
    review
  9. Should I move from react to Eleventy? : r/webdevreddit.com
    review
  10. The End of Eleventy : r/webdevreddit.com
    review
  11. Revamped my entire wordpress portfolio as an 11ty site!reddit.com
    review
  12. Malicious Package in 11ty-simple-page-post-creatorsecurity.snyk.io
    security
  13. NPM Audit: Prototype pollution in async · Issue #2327github.com
    security
  14. Static Sites Do Scale: Eleventy vs. Next.js at 11ty Eventthenewstack.io
    news

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