Eleventy Development

TL;DR

What it is: Building static websites using Eleventy (11ty), a simple and flexible JavaScript-based static site generator that prioritizes speed and developer freedom. You work with clients who need fast-loading blogs, documentation sites, portfolios, and marketing pages.

What you'll do:

Develop static websites using multiple template languages
Convert content from Markdown, data files, or CMS platforms into HTML
Create reusable components and layouts with your preferred template syntax
Optimize site performance and deployment workflows
Migrate clients from WordPress, Jekyll, or other platforms to Eleventy

Time to learn: 2-4 months if you already know JavaScript and HTML, practicing 10-15 hours weekly.

What you need: JavaScript proficiency, HTML/CSS skills, understanding of static site concepts, experience with at least one template language, and a portfolio showcasing Eleventy projects.

What This Actually Is

Eleventy development is building websites using a static site generator that transforms templates and content into pre-rendered HTML files. Unlike frameworks that require JavaScript to run in the browser, Eleventy generates plain HTML during the build process, resulting in websites that load extremely fast.

As an Eleventy developer, you're building content-focused sites—blogs, documentation, portfolios, marketing pages, and company websites. The framework's defining characteristic is its flexibility: it works with over 10 template languages including HTML, Markdown, JavaScript, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, and more, letting you choose what fits your workflow.

The work involves organizing content, creating templates and layouts, processing data from various sources (Markdown files, JSON, APIs, headless CMS), configuring build processes, and deploying to hosting platforms. You're creating sites that prioritize simplicity, speed, and long-term maintainability.

What makes Eleventy marketable is its simplicity and performance. It has zero client-side JavaScript by default, no framework dependencies, and produces sites that load in milliseconds. Companies like NASA, CERN, Google, Microsoft, and W3C trust Eleventy for production sites, demonstrating its enterprise-readiness despite its simple approach.

What You'll Actually Do

Your daily work depends on project requirements, but common tasks include:

Setting up site structure. You configure Eleventy projects with directory layouts, template hierarchies, data cascades, and build settings. Eleventy's zero-config philosophy means projects work with minimal setup, but customization options exist when needed.

Creating templates and layouts. You build page templates using your preferred template language, create reusable layouts for consistent design, set up partial templates for repeated elements, and organize template inheritance. The flexibility to mix template languages in one project is a key feature.

Managing content. You organize content in Markdown files with frontmatter, structure data in JSON or YAML files, create collections for blogs or documentation, implement pagination for large datasets, and integrate with headless CMS platforms when clients need content management interfaces.

Processing data. Eleventy excels at transforming data into HTML. You fetch data from APIs during builds, process external data sources, create computed data from existing content, and build dynamic pages from data files.

Implementing functionality. You add search functionality with static JSON indexes, create RSS feeds and sitemaps, implement navigation systems with active state tracking, set up filters for date formatting and text processing, and build shortcodes for reusable content patterns.

Optimizing performance. You configure image optimization plugins, minimize CSS and JavaScript, implement critical CSS inlining, optimize font loading, and ensure fast build times even for sites with thousands of pages.

Setting up deployments. You configure projects for Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, or other hosts, set up continuous deployment from Git repositories, configure environment variables, and implement preview deployments for staging.

Migrating existing sites. Many clients want to move from WordPress, Jekyll, Hugo, or other platforms to Eleventy. You convert content formats, rebuild template structures, maintain URL patterns for SEO, and ensure feature parity with the old platform.

Skills You Need

JavaScript fundamentals. Strong JavaScript knowledge is essential since Eleventy runs on Node.js. You need understanding of ES6+ features, async/await, modules, and functional programming concepts. You're not writing browser JavaScript, but build-time JavaScript for data processing.

HTML and CSS mastery. Since Eleventy outputs pure HTML, you need solid HTML semantics and CSS skills. You'll work with various CSS approaches depending on project needs—plain CSS, Sass, PostCSS, or utility frameworks like Tailwind.

Template language experience. Proficiency with at least one template language is required. Nunjucks and Liquid are most common in Eleventy projects. Understanding template syntax, filters, loops, conditionals, and includes is crucial.

Static site generation concepts. Understanding build-time rendering, the difference between static and dynamic content, data cascades, collections, and how static sites work is fundamental to effective Eleventy development.

Markdown proficiency. Most Eleventy projects use Markdown for content. You need comfort writing Markdown, understanding frontmatter metadata, and working with Markdown processors.

Node.js basics. You need familiarity with npm or yarn for dependency management, package.json configuration, and Node.js build scripts. You're not building Node.js applications, but you need basic Node.js environment knowledge.

Data processing skills. Ability to work with JSON and YAML data files, fetch data from APIs, transform data structures, and create computed data from multiple sources.

Git version control. Professional work requires Git knowledge for version control, branching strategies, and collaboration workflows.

Deployment knowledge. Understanding how to deploy static sites to various platforms, configure build commands, set up continuous deployment, and troubleshoot deployment issues.

Problem-solving abilities. Capacity to read documentation, debug build errors, search for solutions in smaller communities, and understand error messages independently.

Communication skills. Explaining why Eleventy suits client needs, managing project scope, providing updates, and translating technical concepts into business value.

Getting Started

First, ensure you have solid JavaScript and HTML fundamentals. If you're still learning web basics, strengthen those before adding Eleventy. You don't need advanced JavaScript skills, but you should write basic JavaScript comfortably.

Learn Eleventy through the official documentation at 11ty.dev. The docs are thorough and include getting started guides. Work through the tutorials and understand core concepts like data cascade, collections, and template languages.

Pick a template language to master first. Nunjucks is popular in the Eleventy community and offers good balance between power and simplicity. Liquid is another solid choice, especially if you have Jekyll or Shopify experience.

Build personal projects that showcase Eleventy's strengths. Create a blog with Markdown content and collections, build a portfolio site with data-driven pages, develop a documentation site with navigation and search, or create a marketing site with optimized images. Focus on projects demonstrating speed and simplicity.

Study successful Eleventy sites. The 11ty.dev website itself is built with Eleventy. Examine open-source Eleventy projects on GitHub to understand project structures, common patterns, and best practices.

Set up a portfolio website showcasing your Eleventy work. Include live demos, GitHub repositories, Lighthouse performance scores, and descriptions emphasizing speed and simplicity. Performance metrics sell Eleventy's value.

Create profiles on freelance platforms. Since Eleventy is less known than Next.js or React, your profile should explain what Eleventy provides and why clients benefit. Position yourself for static sites, blogs, documentation, and content-heavy projects.

Consider contributing to the Eleventy ecosystem by creating plugins, starter templates, or filters. The community is accessible, and contributions build credibility.

Start by taking smaller projects—simple blogs, portfolio sites, or documentation projects. These match Eleventy's strengths and let you build experience and client reviews.

Stay current with Eleventy updates. Version 3.1.0 released in May 2025 brought 11% faster builds and 22% smaller size. The framework continues evolving while maintaining its simplicity focus.

Income Reality

Income varies based on experience, location, project complexity, and how you find work.

Hourly rates by experience level:

Beginners with basic Eleventy knowledge might charge $25-$45/hour. These are developers still learning build processes, template patterns, and best practices.

Mid-level developers with 6-12 months of Eleventy experience typically charge $45-$75/hour. This range applies to freelancers who can handle standard static sites, content management, and deployments independently.

Senior developers with extensive Eleventy experience and proven expertise charge $80-$100+/hour. These developers handle complex migrations, custom plugin development, and large-scale content sites.

Geographic considerations:

US-based developers typically see rates around $70-$110/hour for experienced static site work.

European developers commonly charge $40-$80/hour for mid to senior-level projects.

Latin American developers often charge $30-$65/hour with solid experience.

Developers in other regions may charge $20-$50/hour, varying by experience and portfolio quality.

Project-based pricing:

Some developers charge per project. A simple Eleventy blog might be $1,200-$3,500. A documentation site could be $3,000-$10,000. Marketing sites might range from $2,500-$8,000. Platform migrations could be $4,000-$15,000 depending on content volume and complexity.

Monthly income potential:

Working part-time (10-20 hours/week) at mid-level rates could bring $1,800-$6,000/month. Full-time freelancing (30-40 hours/week) at similar rates could reach $5,400-$12,000/month. These numbers assume consistent work, which takes time to establish.

Market reality:

Eleventy's market is smaller than mainstream frameworks like Next.js or React. You'll find fewer job listings specifically requesting Eleventy, but clients who need simple, fast static sites are abundant. Many don't know they need Eleventy until you suggest it.

Eleventy projects often come from clients wanting to escape WordPress complexity, migrate from older static generators like Jekyll, or build documentation and marketing sites without framework overhead.

Your income depends on finding clients who need content-focused sites where Eleventy excels. Early months may bring minimal income while building portfolio and reputation. Platform fees and taxes reduce take-home pay, so budget accordingly.

Where to Find Work

Freelance platforms. Upwork, Arc, Toptal, and Contra occasionally have Eleventy-specific listings, though they're less common than React or Next.js jobs. Position yourself for "static site development," "blog development," "documentation sites," and "performance optimization" rather than only "Eleventy development."

Note: Platforms may charge fees or commissions. We don't track specific rates as they change frequently. Check each platform's current pricing before signing up.

Job boards. Check remote job boards for static site projects, technical documentation, or content management projects where Eleventy fits well even if not specifically mentioned.

LinkedIn. Optimize your profile for Eleventy and static site expertise. Share content about web performance, static site benefits, and simple development approaches. Let your network know you build fast, maintainable sites.

Direct outreach. Identify companies with blogs, documentation sites, or marketing pages that load slowly or use complex frameworks unnecessarily. Reach out with your portfolio and explain how Eleventy could improve their performance and reduce maintenance complexity.

Agency partnerships. Digital agencies handling content marketing or documentation projects often need specialized static site developers. Building relationships with agencies can provide steady contract work.

WordPress migration market. Many businesses want to escape WordPress complexity and security concerns. Position yourself to help these migrations, using Eleventy as the solution.

Open source communities. Participate in the Eleventy community through Discord, GitHub, or community forums. The community is smaller and more accessible than massive frameworks, making relationship-building easier.

Content creation. Writing articles about Eleventy, creating video tutorials, or building Eleventy starter templates can attract inbound client inquiries. Less content saturation exists compared to mainstream frameworks.

Referrals. After delivering fast, simple sites that clients can easily maintain, ask for referrals. Simplicity and performance improvements often speak for themselves.

Finding consistent Eleventy work requires educating potential clients about static site benefits. Unlike frameworks clients request by name, you'll often suggest Eleventy as the solution to their performance, complexity, or maintenance problems.

Common Challenges

Market awareness. Most potential clients don't know Eleventy exists. You'll spend time explaining why it's better for their use case than WordPress, Gatsby, or other options they've heard about.

Smaller job market. Fewer listings specifically request Eleventy compared to React, Next.js, or Vue. You need to position yourself for projects where Eleventy fits rather than waiting for Eleventy-specific requests.

Client expectations for interactivity. Clients accustomed to React or Vue expect rich client-side interactivity. Eleventy's static-first approach requires explaining that not everything needs JavaScript, and when it does, you add it selectively.

Explaining simplicity as a feature. In a world of complex frameworks, convincing clients that simpler technology is better requires education. You're selling against the assumption that more complex equals more capable.

Limited CMS options. While Eleventy works with headless CMS platforms, the integrations are less polished than WordPress. Clients wanting content management interfaces need additional setup.

Smaller ecosystem. The plugin ecosystem is smaller than established frameworks. You'll sometimes build custom solutions rather than installing existing packages.

Framework updates. While Eleventy maintains backward compatibility better than many frameworks, staying current with new features and best practices requires ongoing learning.

Template language choices. The flexibility to use multiple template languages is powerful but can confuse clients or create inconsistency if not managed carefully.

Pricing uncertainty. Estimating project timelines requires experience understanding how long content processing, template building, and migrations take. Underestimating leads to unpaid hours.

Scope creep. Clients requesting "just a simple blog" often have complex requirements that emerge mid-project. Clear scoping and change management prevent unpaid work.

Tips That Actually Help

Build a performance-focused portfolio. Showcase Lighthouse scores, page load speeds, and build time metrics. Numbers demonstrate Eleventy's value more effectively than technical explanations.

Master one template language deeply. While Eleventy supports many languages, becoming expert in Nunjucks or Liquid makes you more efficient and confident.

Understand when not to use Eleventy. Highly interactive applications, user dashboards, and complex web apps aren't Eleventy's strength. Recommending the right tool builds client trust.

Position yourself strategically. Market yourself for blogs, documentation, marketing sites, and content-focused projects rather than only "Eleventy development." Many clients need what Eleventy provides without knowing it exists.

Create comparison resources. Having clear explanations of when Eleventy works better than WordPress, Next.js, or Jekyll helps educate clients and win projects.

Learn deployment platforms well. Be comfortable with Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, and GitHub Pages. Each has strengths for different project types.

Build a starter template library. Create reusable Eleventy project structures for blogs, documentation, portfolios, and marketing sites. This speeds up new projects and provides value to clients.

Study large-scale Eleventy sites. Understanding how Eleventy handles thousands of pages teaches optimization techniques and build performance patterns.

Save common patterns. Build a library of useful filters, shortcodes, data processing functions, and configuration snippets. Reusing patterns saves time on future projects.

Set clear scope boundaries. Define what's included in project scope and what counts as additional work. Document this upfront to prevent misunderstandings.

Communicate proactively. Update clients regularly on progress. They appreciate transparency about challenges or delays rather than last-minute surprises.

Track your time carefully. Even on fixed-price projects, track hours to understand if you're pricing accurately and identify where time goes.

Join the Eleventy community. Discord and GitHub discussions are active and helpful. The community is approachable, and experienced developers actively help newcomers.

Stay current with releases. Follow Eleventy release notes and experiment with new features in personal projects before using them in client work.

Focus on content structure. Good Eleventy development organizes content logically, making sites easy for clients to maintain after handoff.

Learning Timeline Reality

If you already know JavaScript and HTML:

Expect 2-4 months to become proficient with Eleventy, assuming 10-15 hours of weekly practice. This includes working through documentation, mastering a template language, building several projects, and understanding deployment.

Weeks 1-4 focus on fundamentals—installation, basic configuration, template syntax, collections, data cascade, and simple builds. Build a basic blog or portfolio to understand core concepts.

Weeks 5-8 cover intermediate topics—data processing, custom filters and shortcodes, pagination, plugin integration, and multiple template languages. Build a documentation site or more complex blog with categories and tags.

Weeks 9-12 emphasize advanced patterns—performance optimization, custom plugins, complex data transformations, and build process customization. Build a project with API data integration or migrate a small site from another platform.

Months 4+ involve taking on paid projects, deepening expertise through real-world work, and building specialization in specific Eleventy use cases like documentation or migrations.

If you're new to template languages:

Add 2-4 weeks to learn Nunjucks or Liquid basics before diving into Eleventy. Understanding template syntax, filters, loops, and conditionals separately from Eleventy concepts makes learning smoother.

General timeline notes:

These timelines assume consistent practice building actual projects. Reading documentation without building won't develop the practical skills clients need.

Eleventy has a gentler learning curve than React-based frameworks because there's less to learn—no state management, no component lifecycle, no virtual DOM. You can start taking simple projects around month 3, though expertise continues developing through real work.

Everyone's timeline varies based on prior experience, learning pace, and time investment. If you have strong web fundamentals, Eleventy's simplicity makes it one of the faster frameworks to learn.

Is This For You?

Eleventy development suits you if you have JavaScript and HTML skills and want to specialize in a framework that prioritizes simplicity over complexity. It's a growing but not mainstream market, meaning less competition but also fewer explicit job listings.

This works well if you appreciate elegant, simple solutions over complex ones. Eleventy's philosophy is doing more with less, which appeals to developers who value maintainability and performance over feature abundance.

You'll do well if you enjoy content-focused projects—blogs, documentation sites, portfolios, and marketing pages. These are Eleventy's sweet spot and often have reasonable budgets.

Remote work flexibility is a major advantage. Eleventy development happens entirely online with access to global clients.

However, you need comfort with a smaller market. There are fewer Eleventy-specific job listings than React or Next.js. You'll often suggest Eleventy for projects rather than responding to Eleventy requests.

You need tolerance for educating clients about the framework. Unlike established tools where clients already understand the value, you'll frequently explain technology choices and why simpler is better.

If you prefer working with highly interactive applications, Eleventy isn't the best fit. It excels at content sites, not complex web applications requiring significant client-side JavaScript.

You need comfort working independently. Freelancing means solving problems solo and making architectural decisions without team input.

If you're completely new to web development, this isn't the starting point. Learn JavaScript, HTML, and CSS first. Eleventy is simpler than React-based frameworks, making it an accessible second step after fundamentals.

Consider whether you value working with proven, stable technology. Eleventy is mature and trusted by major organizations, offering stability compared to newer experimental frameworks.

The financial reality is that building consistent freelance income takes 6-12 months after learning the technical skills. You need financial runway for that ramp-up period.

If you have solid web fundamentals, appreciate simplicity and performance, enjoy content-focused projects, and can handle educating clients about technology choices, Eleventy development offers steady income potential in a less saturated market than mainstream frameworks.

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