What is Eleventy (11ty.dev)?

Updated

Eleventy (often written as 11ty) is a static site generator: it takes templates and content files and turns them into a static HTML website. According to its official site, 11ty.dev, Eleventy describes itself as "a simpler static site generator." It's aimed at developers who want to build for the web with JavaScript but without the overhead of a heavier framework. If you want plain HTML output, control over your templates, and a tool that doesn't force a specific front-end framework on you, Eleventy is built for that use case.

How Eleventy works

A static site generator sits between your source files and your published site. You write content (for example, Markdown) and templates, and Eleventy processes them into finished HTML files you can host anywhere.

The official site frames this around a few ideas:

  • Simpler by design — the homepage tagline is "Eleventy is a simpler static site generator."
  • JavaScript-based tooling — Eleventy requires a way to run JavaScript on your computer, and the docs recommend Node.js (version 18 or newer).
  • Template flexibility — the documentation lists support for many template languages, including HTML, Markdown, MDX, JavaScript, JSX, TypeScript, WebC, Nunjucks, Liquid, Handlebars, Mustache, EJS, HAML, Pug, and Sass.

So rather than locking you into one templating system, Eleventy lets you mix and match the languages you already know.

What you need to get started

Before installing, confirm your environment. The official Quick Start gives these prerequisites and first steps:

  1. Check for Node.js. Run node --version in a Terminal. Eleventy recommends Node.js version 18 or newer.
  2. Install Node.js if needed. If node isn't found, or the reported version is below 18, install Node.js before continuing.
  3. Create a content file. For example, create an index.md Markdown file in your text editor, or run one of the commands the docs provide for macOS, Linux, Windows, and cross-platform setups.

The docs also note you can try Eleventy in your browser, which is useful if you want to see how it behaves before setting up a local environment.

Why developers choose Eleventy

Based on the site's own framing, the appeal comes down to a few practical points:

Consideration What Eleventy offers
Output Static HTML sites
Complexity Positioned as "simpler" than heavier alternatives
Language JavaScript-based, with Node.js as the recommended runtime
Templates A wide range of supported template languages
Extensibility A plugin system, including community plugins

The documentation covers advanced topics too — configuration, the data cascade, collections, pagination, the dev server, internationalization, and a programmatic API — so the "simple" positioning doesn't mean it's limited to trivial sites.

Where to go next

If you've decided Eleventy fits your project, the natural next steps from the official docs are:

  • Get Started and Quick Start for installation and your first site.
  • Why Eleventy? for the project's own rationale.
  • Starter Projects and Tutorials if you'd rather learn from an existing setup.
  • Plugins and Community Plugins when you need to extend functionality.

One note on versions: the site lists a Stable version (3.1.6) and a Canary version (4.0.0-alpha.10) at the time of the source material. If you're starting a new project, the Stable release is the safer default, while Canary is for testing upcoming changes.