Last May, Netlify announced the general availability of Build Plugins. Since then, a number of technical partners have launched new plugins, allowing automated workflows to run on top of Netlify’s CI/CD infrastructure.
For example, you can now run end-to-end tests with the Cypress plugin or index your site for search with Algolia, directly from your Netlify build.
With an expanding catalog of available plugins and integrations, we wanted to take this moment to check on the leaderboard.
Here’s a look at the most popular Netlify build plugins to-date, and some notes on their standing compared to last June.
Top 10 Netlify Build Plugins
1. Gatsby Cache
Holding strong at #1, this plugin by Jason Lengstorf allows you to persist the Gatsby cache between Netlify builds for huge build speed improvements.
Install Gatsby Cache plugin | Git repo
2. Submit Sitemap
New to our Top 10, this plugin by Cassius lets you automatically submit your sitemap to Google, Bing, and Yandex after every production build.
Install Submit Sitemap plugin | Git repo
3. Sitemap plugin
Another popular sitemap option, this plugin by Netlify Labs automatically generates a sitemap on PostBuild.
Install Sitemap plugin | Git repo
4. Image Optim
For performance-minded developers, the Image Optim plugin by Chris Draycott-Wheatley automatically optimizes images during the build in PNG, JPEG, GIF, or SVG file formats.
Install Image Optim plugin | Git repo
5. Next on Netlify
New to our list, and quickly climbing the charts in terms of popularity, the Next on Netlify plugin lets you build and deploy Next.js applications with server-side rendering, no extra configuration required.
Install Next on Netlify | Git repo
6. Next.js Cache
Still very popular, the Next.js Cache plugin from Jonah Snider, aka pizzafox, caches the .next folder between builds.
Install Next.js Cache plugin | Git repo
7. Minify HTML
By Phil Hawksworth, this framework-agnostic utility adds HTML minification as a post-processing optimisation.
Install Minify HTML | Git repo
8. Lighthouse
Another fun one in the performance space, the Lighthouse plugin by Netlify Labs generates a Lighthouse audit report for every build, so you can watch for improvements or degradations in page speed as part of your workflow.
Install Lighthouse plugin | Git repo
9. A11y
Build a more accessible web! The A11y plugin by sw-yx runs your critical pages through Pa11y and fails the build if accessibility failures are found.
Install A11y plugin | Git repo
10. Inline Critical CSS
New to our Top 10 list, the Inline Critical CSS plugin by Tom Bonnike extracts the CSS for above-the-fold content and makes it inline CSS so that content can render as quickly as possible for users.
Install Inline Critical CSS plugin | Git repo
Do more with plugins in 2021
First, thank you so much, plugin authors, for bringing these plugins to life!
While we’re seeing more framework-specific plugins rise through the ranks, it’s clear that optimizing performance, search, and accessibility remain popular concerns for Netlify developers.
Learn more about what’s possible with plugins. Check out the updated list of event handlers, from onPreBuild to onEnd. You may even feel inspired to roll your own!
