head to head · open source
next.js vs bridgetown
next.js has 143,474 GitHub stars, 33,621 forks, 3,358 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bridgetown has 1,376 stars, 133 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. next.js leads on adoption by 10,327% (143,474 vs 1,376 stars). next.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; bridgetown is written in Ruby under MIT. next.js has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, bridgetown 10%. next.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (static-site-generator), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| next.js | bridgetown | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 143K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 34K | ⑂ 133 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick next.js if
- You weight community size — 143K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bridgetown if
- You want the bridgetown feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and bridgetown fits your workflow better
About next.js
Next.js Getting Started Used by some of the world's largest companies, Next.js enables you to create full stack web applications by extending the latest React features, and integrating powerful Rust based JavaScript tooling for the fastest builds. Visit our Learn Next.js course to get started with Next.js. Visit the Next.js Showcase to see more sites built with Next.js. Documentation Visit to view the full documentation. Community The Next.js community can be found on GitHub Discussions where you can ask questions, voice ideas, and share your projects with other people. To chat with other community members, you…
read the full next.js overview →
About bridgetown
Bridgetown Bridgetown is a next generation, progressive site generator & fullstack framework, powered by Ruby. Bridgetown takes your local content and external data loaded from APIs; renders templates in Markdown, ERB, and many other formats; automatically compiles frontend assets via esbuild; and exports a complete website ready to be served by fast CDNs like Render or traditional web servers. Bridgetown also integrates closely with Roda for fullstack, dynamic web application functionality—but only when and where you need it. Sponsor Bridgetown Development 🙏 Your direct financial assistance is greatly…
read the full bridgetown overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is next.js or bridgetown more popular?
next.js has 143,474 GitHub stars and bridgetown has 1,376. next.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are next.js and bridgetown free?
Both are open source. next.js is licensed under MIT and bridgetown under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between next.js and bridgetown?
next.js is written in JavaScript and bridgetown in Ruby. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, next.js or bridgetown?
Choose next.js if you want the larger community (143,474 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose bridgetown if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.