TL;DR
JAMstack is an architecture: JavaScript on the client, APIs for data and logic, pre-rendered Markup. Sites are fast, secure and easy to scale. Here’s when to choose it in 2026.
Who this is for
- Teams building marketing sites, blogs, landing pages
- Projects requiring high performance and SEO
- Anyone looking for an alternative to traditional CMS (WordPress with a server)
Keyword (SEO)
jamstack, static sites, javascript api markup, next.js, headless cms, cdn
What is JAMstack?
JAM = JavaScript, APIs, Markup:
- JavaScript – interactivity in the browser (forms, navigation, SPA)
- APIs – data and logic via API (REST, GraphQL), no custom server or serverless
- Markup – HTML generated ahead of time (build time), served as static files
Benefits:
- Speed – static files from CDN, no server-side rendering on every request
- Security – smaller attack surface (no database and app server in the traditional sense)
- Scalability – CDN and static hosting (Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare)
- SEO – pre-rendered HTML, good Core Web Vitals
When does JAMstack make sense?
- ✅ Corporate sites, blogs, landings, documentation
- ✅ Content that changes moderately (rebuild on change or ISR)
- ✅ Need for great performance and cheap hosting
- ❌ Real-time apps, highly dynamic per-user content – then hybrid or full-stack
Typical stack
- Framework: Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, Gatsby
- Content: headless CMS (Strapi, Contentful, Sanity), Markdown in repo
- Hosting: Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages
- APIs: serverless (Vercel Functions, Netlify Functions) or external APIs
Example: Next.js + headless CMS
- Build: Next.js fetches content from CMS at
next build, generates static pages (SSG) or ISR. - Deploy: files on CDN; on content change – rebuild or on-demand revalidation.
- Forms / logic: sent to API (e.g. Resend, custom serverless function).
Checklist / steps
- Choose a framework (Next.js for full flexibility, Astro for max content speed)
- Connect to headless CMS or Markdown
- Configure CDN and cache headers
- Use serverless for forms, newsletter, payments
FAQ
Is JAMstack only static HTML?
No. You can have SSR or ISR (e.g. Next.js), but the idea is “pre-render where possible, API where needed”. Key: no traditional app server on every request for static pages.
What about frequently changing content?
ISR (Incremental Static Regeneration) in Next.js – pages regenerate in the background after a set time or on-demand via CMS webhook.
JAMstack vs WordPress?
WordPress = server + database on every request. JAMstack = ready HTML from CDN. WordPress can be used as headless CMS (API), with the front built in JAMstack.