Not every site needs the newest framework.

Jekyll still makes sense when the priority is simple Markdown publishing and Git-based workflows. Ghost still makes sense when the goal is publishing plus newsletters and memberships in one place. Gatsby still makes sense when the team wants a React-based framework with a GraphQL data layer and a static-first deployment model.

What They Are Used For

• Jekyll for simple blogs and GitHub Pages-style publishing.
• Ghost for publishers, creators, and membership-driven newsletters.
• Gatsby for React-based static sites with content aggregation.

Current Direction

Jekyll remains a very small, practical static site generator. The homepage still emphasizes plain text to static websites, blog-aware features, and GitHub Pages compatibility.

Ghost’s current product story is much stronger on publisher operations: built-in newsletters, memberships, native analytics, offers, and a full creator/business platform. The release of Ghost 6.0 also shows the project is still active and evolving.

Gatsby’s homepage now reflects the Netlify relationship and still leans on the framework plus the unified GraphQL data layer. That makes it relevant when a project wants a static React site with a richer data pipeline.

How To Choose

Choose Jekyll when:

1. You want the simplest possible publishing model.
2. Git-based content editing is enough.
3. You want very low operational overhead.

Choose Ghost when:

1. The site is really a publication or newsletter business.
2. Memberships and monetization matter.
3. You want publishing, email, and analytics together.

Choose Gatsby when:

1. The site is React-based and content-rich.
2. You need a unified data layer.
3. Static generation still fits the project.

Practical Rule

These tools are not dead. They are just specialized. Use Jekyll for simple publishing, Ghost for audience-driven publishing, and Gatsby when React plus static generation is still the right shape.

Official resources: Jekyll, Ghost, and Gatsby.