Eleventy (11ty) Development
The simplest static site generator — zero JavaScript, any templating language, maximum control.
Eleventy: minimal by design
Eleventy does one thing — generates HTML. No JavaScript runtime, no virtual DOM, no opinions about your CSS framework or build tooling. You get exactly what you put in, transformed exactly how you specify.
When Eleventy is the right choice
Documentation sites, simple marketing sites, and projects where the team wants complete control over the output HTML without framework abstraction. Eleventy sites are extremely fast to build and trivially deployable to any static host.
Eleventy vs Astro
Both are excellent static site generators. Eleventy is more minimal and flexible — better when you need maximum control and have a specific templating setup. Astro has better component ergonomics and island interactivity built in. For most new projects I lean toward Astro, but Eleventy is the right choice when simplicity is paramount.
Common questions
What templating languages do you use with Eleventy?
Nunjucks for complex layouts, Markdown for content, and JavaScript data files for dynamic data. Eleventy supports 10+ templating languages — I use whichever fits the project.
Can Eleventy handle large sites?
Yes. Eleventy scales well to thousands of pages with its incremental builds feature. Build times stay fast even at scale.
Is Eleventy good for SEO?
Eleventy produces pure HTML with no JavaScript overhead — ideal for SEO. Every page is fully rendered for crawlers. I add schema markup and XML sitemaps to every Eleventy build.
Do you connect Eleventy to a CMS?
Yes — Eleventy fetches data from any source at build time. I commonly pair it with Netlify CMS (Decap), Contentful, or a simple Supabase table for content that editors need to update.
Why choose Eleventy over Astro in 2026?
Eleventy when you want the smallest possible footprint and maximum templating flexibility. Astro when you want component ergonomics and built-in island interactivity. Both produce fast, SEO-friendly output.
Ready to get started?
Free consultation. No commitment. Just an honest conversation about your project.
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Whether it's a migration, a new build, or an SEO challenge — the Social Animal team would love to hear from you.