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Netlify
View on WikipediaThis article contains promotional content. (May 2023) |
Netlify is a cloud computing company that offers a development platform that includes build, deploy, and serverless backend services for web applications and dynamic websites.[6]
Key Information
The company enables building, deploying, and scaling websites whose source files are stored in the version control system Git and then generated into static web content files[b 1][7] served via a content delivery network.[b 2][b 3] Netlify Functions are used in building dynamic websites with interactive features.[8] The Netlify platform integrates with various plugins and application programming interfaces (APIs) to add extra features/functionality for web projects.[9]
History
[edit]The company was founded in 2014 by Danish entrepreneur Mathias Biilmann who noticed the emergence of Git-centered workflows with modern build tools and static site generators, while running Webpop, a content management startup based in San Francisco.[10] In 2015, Biilmann invited Christian Bach, his childhood friend who was working as an executive at a creative services agency in Denmark, to join him as co-founder in his new venture.[11] In 2017, MakerLoop was rebranded as Netlify.[1]
Beyond the initial focus on hosting for static websites, the company expanded to a broader offering including serverless functions and test and deployment services.[8][12]
On May 19, 2021, Netlify announced the acquisition of FeaturePeek, a Y Combinator and Matrix Partners backed startup that enables developer teams to preview frontend content.[13]
On November 17, 2021, Netlify acquired Y Combinator and SignalFire-backed OneGraph to allow for the composition of apps with APIs and services using GraphQL.[14]
On February 1, 2022, Netlify announced the acquisition of Quirrel, an open-source solution and service for managing and scheduling the execution of serverless functions and jobs.[15]
In February 2023, Netlify announced the acquisition of competitor company and Jamstack framework and platform provider Gatsby.[16]
On June 29, 2023, Netlify announced the acquisition of Stackbit, a visual editing company run by entrepreneurs like Ryland King.[17]
Financing
[edit]On August 16, 2016, Netlify raised $2.1 million from the founders of GitHub, Heroku, Rackspace Cloud, Bloomberg Beta and Tank Hill.[18]
On August 9, 2017, the company announced that it had raised $12 million in series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz.[19][20][21][22]
On October 9, 2018, the company issued a press release announcing that it had completed a series B round led by Kleiner Perkins—with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Slack and Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield, Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman, among others—securing $30 million.[23][24]
On March 4, 2020, Netlify secured $53 million in a series C round led by EQT Ventures, the venture capital branch of Swedish investment company EQT, with contributions by existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and newcomer Preston-Werner Ventures.[25]
On November 17, 2021, Netlify secured $105 million in a series D round led by Bessemer Venture Partners at a $2 billion valuation, with contributions by existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, BOND, EQT Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Mango Capital, and Menlo Ventures.[26] This brought Netlify's total funding to $212 million.[27]
Capabilities
[edit]Connect and build web applications
[edit]Netlify combines a platform for apps that streamlines the workflow for a development team.[28] Netlify Build is a CI/CD infrastructure for frontend teams that is automated and pre-configured. It does not require a full-time administrator to manage the pipeline.[29] Netlify Graph is a GraphQL-based approach to integrating distinct APIs to build a web app that strives to reduce the inherent complexities in mixing different data models, response formats, and authentication schemes; it is integrated with a number of APIs such as GitHub, Stripe, and Salesforce.[30]
Developers write, test, and review code before production with Netlify CLI. Within the CLI is Netlify Dev, which is a collection of development CLIs that brings the Netlify production environment down to a developer's local machine.[31]
Deploy previews are used to view and leave feedback about a web project, with every annotation and comment synced to an organization's productivity tools. Netlify automatically builds a new Deploy Preview as a unique permanent URL for each Pull/Merge Request.[32]
Run web applications
[edit]Netlify Edge is a network used to power web experiences. It is fast due to its global distribution with automated prerendering. With Edge, apps are deployed to multiple cloud providers. Worldwide caches are invalidated instantly as every global deployment is an atomic and instant update.[33]
Netlify's serverless capabilities include Netlify Functions, Background Functions, Scheduled Functions, and Edge Functions.
Netlify Edge Functions allow developers to build fast web experiences by running dynamic content or an entire application from the network edge. Edge Functions are built on open source runtime Deno to work with server-side features from existing web frameworks and edge-first frameworks.[34]
Working as API endpoints deploy server-side code that automatically runs in response to events or completes jobs in the background by coding functions with JavaScript, TypeScript, or Go. Netlify executes functions written as full API endpoints, or functions can be executed directly from the frontend through JavaScript, or they can be called from other services through webhooks.[35]
Ecosystem and Integrations
[edit]Netlify works with open source contributors, web framework authors, digital agencies, and technology vendors in the modern web ecosystem; developers pick and plug in the tools for their projects. Netlify is an Enabler member of the MACH Alliance, group of independent technology companies that aim to advocate for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems.[36]
JAMstack
[edit]JAMstack[a] is a cloud-native web development architecture based on client-side JavaScript code, reusable APIs, and markup content.[b 4] It was pioneered and created by Netlify.[37][38] In its purest form, the idea of JAMstack is that a web application is pre-built into static pages, using content and code to generate the output. In basic terms, JAMstack is a significant shift in focus from the now abstractable back end to the now-powerful front end.[39]
Netlify is the host of the annual Jamstack Conf and runs the annual Jamstack Community Survey.[40]
Reception
[edit]In March 2017, Netlify CMS was named "GitHub project of the week" by the Software Development Times.[41]
On July 10, 2018, GitHub founder and former CEO Tom Preston-Werner predicted that "within 5 years, you'll build your next large scale, fully featured web app with JAMstack and deploy on Netlify."[42]
Netlify customers include Google, Facebook, Verizon, NBC, Samsung, Nike, Cisco, Atlassian, LiveChat, TriNet, Loblaw, Wieden+Kennedy, Vue.js, Citrix, Peloton, Kubernetes, Lodash, Smashing Magazine, Sequoia Capital, VMware,[27] UW Health, Pan Macmillan,[43] Victoria Beckham Beauty, Twilio,[44] and Unilever.[45][46][47][11][48][49][50][51]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- ^ Camden, Raymond; Rinaldi, Brian (2017). Working with Static Sites: Bringing the Power of Simplicity to Modern Sites. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media. pp. 155, 177. ISBN 9781491960943.
- ^ Xie, Yihui; Presmanes Hill, Alison; Thomas, Amber (2017). blogdown: Creating Websites with R Markdown. The R Series. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 79. ISBN 9780815363729.
- ^ Xie, Yihui; Allaire, Joseph J.; Grolemund, Garrett (2018). R Markdown: The Definitive Guide. The R Series. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 207. ISBN 9781138359338.
- ^ Gilbert, John (2018). JavaScript Cloud Native Development Cookbook: Deliver serverless cloud-native solutions on AWS, Azure, and GCP. Birmingham: Packt Publishing. pp. 143, 148. ISBN 9781788470414.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also stylized as Jamstack.
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b "Business Entities Filing Document". Secretary of State of California. February 26, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ "Business filings for Netlify, Inc". Office of the Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ "See Netlify's Company and Product Milestones – 1 Million Devs". Netlify. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Anderson, Tim (November 19, 2021). "Netlify acquires OneGraph: One API to rule them all?". The Register.
- ^ "With netlify, website maintenance has gotten even better". HostAdvice. April 6, 2016.
- ^ McKemie, Ashley; Rydhan, Sarfaraz (February 21, 2020). "How to Build JAMstack Ecommerce Store - BigCommerce & Netlify". Netlify. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ Carey, Scott (February 21, 2022). "Vercel, Netlify, and the new era of serverless PaaS". InfoWorld.
- ^ a b Deutscher, Maria (March 4, 2020). "After attracting 800K web developers, Netlify wins $53M in funding". Silicon Angle.
- ^ Vizard, Mike (May 27, 2020). "Netlify Makes Build Plugins Available for Jamstack Platform". DevOps.
- ^ "Matt Biilmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Netlify". CodeSandbox. April 4, 2021.
- ^ a b Finley, Klint (October 24, 2018). "This Company Wants to Make the Internet Load Faster". WIRED. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Craig S. "Have You Noticed The New Web? It's Faster, More Secure". Forbes. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ Banda, Manda (June 4, 2021). "Netlify acquires FeaturePeek". Intelligent CIO Africa.
- ^ Chauhan, Monika (February 23, 2022). "Netlify Graph Helps Developers Connect APIs In Fewer Steps". TFiR.
- ^ Chauhan, Monika (February 1, 2022). "Netlify Acquires Quirrel To Shape The Next Wave Of Serverless". TFiR.
- ^ MacManus, Richard (February 1, 2023). "Netlify Acquires Gatsby, Its Struggling Jamstack Competitor". The New Stack. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ "Netlify Acquires Stackbit to Provide Web Teams with a Full Set of Solutions Across Their Web Stack". Netlify. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ Lynley, Matthew (August 17, 2017). "Netlify, a service for quickly rolling out static websites, raises $2.1M". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Weinberger, Matt (August 9, 2017). "A hot startup is using $12 million from Andreessen Horowitz to pursue a 'holy grail' of web technology". Business Insider. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Hanley Frank, Blair (August 9, 2017). "Netlify raises $12 million to advance web development". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Wittorff, Jacob Ø. (August 25, 2017). "Dansk it-firma har landet en investering fra et af verdens største ventureselskaber: "De forlanger pengene 100 gange igen"" [Danish IT company lands investment from one of the world's largest venture companies: They expect a 100-times return]. Computerworld (in Danish). Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Levine, Peter (August 9, 2017). "Netlify". Andreessen Horowitz. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Sawers, Paul (October 9, 2018). "Netlify raises $30 million to modernize the web". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Ron (October 9, 2018). "Netlify just got $30 million to change the way developers build websites". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Ron (March 4, 2020). "Netlify nabs $53M Series C as microservices approach to web development grows".
- ^ Mirchevska, Sara (November 19, 2021). "Netlify Raises $105 Million In A Series D Round Led by Bessemer Venture Partners".
- ^ a b Wheatley, Mike (November 17, 2021). "With $105M in new funding, Jamstack creator Netlify buys GraphQL startup OneGraph". SiliconANGLE.
- ^ Lewkowicz, Jakub (September 21, 2021). "Netlify launches Enterprise Grid, availability on AWS Marketplace". SD Times.
- ^ Vizard, Mike (November 18, 2021). "Netlify Acquires OneGraph to Integrate GraphQL APIs". DevOps.
- ^ De Simone, Sergio De Simone (February 16, 2022). "Netlify Graph Aims to Simplify External API Integration in Web Apps". InfoQ.
- ^ Chidiebere, Melvin (January 28, 2022). "Top 10 Netlify CLI Commands". DEV Community.
- ^ "Netlify Brings Collaboration to Deploy Previews with FeaturePeek Acquisition". The New Stack. May 27, 2021.
- ^ Yuan, Michael (August 10, 2021). "WebAssembly Serverless Functions in Netlify". Wasm.
- ^ Dee, Katie (April 19, 2022). "Netlify announces Netlify Edge Functions". SD Times.
- ^ Onyenma, Miracle (November 29, 2021). "Build a Link Previewer with Puppeteer & Serverless Functions - SitePoint".
- ^ Edwards, Roy (March 2, 2022). "MACH Alliance continues growth with eight new members". Enterprise Times.
- ^ Gienow, Michelle (December 26, 2017). "The Sweetness of JAMstack: JavaScript, APIs and Markup". The New Stack. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Leopold, George (October 9, 2018). "App Developer Netlify Looks Beyond Web Servers". EnterpriseTech. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Ouellet, Charles (October 23, 2017). "JAMstack for Clients: Benefits, Static Site CMS, & Limitations". CodeBurst.io.
- ^ Xing, Jessica (September 13, 2021). "The next big startup opportunity could be the 'Jamstack,' as hot firms like Netlify and Vercel help developers build websites faster". Business Insider.
- ^ Moore, Madison (March 24, 2017). "SD Times GitHub project of the week: Netlify CMS". SD Times. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ Tom Preston-Werner [@mojombo] (July 10, 2018). "Prediction: within 5 years, you'll build your next large scale, fully featured web app with #JAMstack and deploy on @Netlify" (Tweet). Retrieved October 9, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ Boye, Janus (November 19, 2020). "Pan Macmillan - Adventures with Gatsby, Kontent and Netlify". Boye & Company.
- ^ Anderson, Tim (November 19, 2021). "Netlify acquires OneGraph: One API to rule them all?". The Register.
- ^ D'Onofrio, Mary; Robinson, Elliott; Teng, Jenelle. "Why Netlify is the architecture for the next generation of web development". BVP.
- ^ Neumegen, Mike (August 20, 2021). "Jamstack CMS: The Past, The Present and The Future". Smashing Magazine.
- ^ Blædel, Mathias (August 11, 2017). "Dansk startup får millionrygstød: Har Google og Facebook som kunder" [Danish startup gets a $1 million push: Has Google and Facebook as customers]. Dagbladet Børsen (in Danish). Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Deutscher, Maria (October 9, 2018). "Founders of Slack, Yelp join $30M round into web development startup Netlify". Silicon Angle. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Netlify Application Delivery Network". Netlify. Retrieved October 17, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Plans and Pricing". Netlify. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Netlify raises $53 mn Series C funding to fuel expansion". hrnxt.com. March 6, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
External links
[edit]Netlify
View on GrokipediaHistory
Founding and Early Years
Netlify was founded in the summer of 2014 by Danish entrepreneurs Mathias Biilmann Christensen and Christian Bach, who had met as childhood friends in high school in Denmark before relocating to San Francisco, California, to establish the company.[1][7][8] The duo's initial vision centered on addressing the complexities of deploying static websites, drawing from Biilmann's prior experience with BitBalloon, a drag-and-drop hosting service he had launched earlier for quick static site uploads.[9][10] On April 7, 2015, Netlify publicly launched as an evolution of BitBalloon, combining its straightforward static site and app hosting with a novel Git integration for continuous deployment.[9] This feature enabled developers to connect their Git repositories—such as those on GitHub—triggering automatic builds and deployments upon code pushes, thereby streamlining workflows without manual intervention.[9] Bach, who had been involved in BitBalloon, shifted his full focus to Netlify and moved to San Francisco to co-lead the effort.[9] The platform's key early innovation was automating build processes for frontend applications, allowing static sites to be generated and hosted globally via a content delivery network without relying on traditional servers, with atomic deploys ensuring consistency.[11][12] This serverless approach simplified frontend development by decoupling it from backend infrastructure, laying foundational concepts for what would later be termed the JAMstack architecture.[13] Early adopters, including beta testers, praised the tool's ease in hosting over 80 supported static site generators, marking Netlify's rapid traction among developers seeking efficient, scalable web deployment.[9]Growth and Key Milestones
Following its initial launch, Netlify's deployments are atomic by design, ensuring that site updates occur as single, indivisible units to maintain consistency without downtime or partial states during uploads.[12] That same year, the platform rolled out Deploy Previews, enabling developers to generate unique URLs for testing pull requests and branch changes before production deployment.[14] In 2017, Netlify launched Netlify CMS, an open-source content management system built on Git workflows, which provided a user-friendly interface for editing static sites and was later integrated into the platform's core offerings as Decap CMS.[15] By 2020, the company achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 1 million registered developers and powering over 1 million live sites, reflecting rapid adoption among web builders.[16] In 2022, Netlify launched Edge Functions, extending serverless compute capabilities to the global network edge for faster, localized application performance.[17] In June 2025, Netlify launched Netlify DB, a serverless PostgreSQL database powered by Neon, to support AI-native fullstack development.[18] In 2025, the introduction of AI Agent Runners integrated AI models like Claude, Codex, and Gemini directly into the dashboard, allowing developers to automate code fixes, updates, and deployments on live projects.[6] These advancements supported Netlify's broader expansion into composable web architecture, emphasizing modular, scalable components for modern web applications.[1] In October 2024, co-founder Christian Bach stepped down from his full-time role as Chief Strategy and Creative Officer.[19] By 2024, Netlify's revenue had grown to $46.3 million, supported by a team of 202 employees, underscoring its scaling operations and market impact.[20] The founding team, led by CEO Mathias Biilmann, drove many of these early innovations in streamlined deployment workflows.[16]Financing and Valuation
Netlify has raised a total of $212 million in funding across five rounds from 2016 to 2021.[21] This capital supported the company's expansion in the JAMstack ecosystem and developer tools, enabling growth in enterprise adoption and platform innovation.[7] The funding history began with early-stage investments, followed by larger rounds as Netlify scaled. Key rounds include:| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investor | Notable Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 2016 | $2.1 million | N/A | Various early investors |
| Series A | 2017 | $12 million | Andreessen Horowitz | Bloomberg Beta, Designer Fund, Tank Hill Ventures |
| Series B | 2018 | $30 million | Kleiner Perkins | Andreessen Horowitz, Blossom Capital |
| Series C | 2020 | $53 million | EQT Ventures | Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Preston-Werner Ventures |
| Series D | 2021 | $105 million | Bessemer Venture Partners | Andreessen Horowitz, BOND, EQT Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Mango Capital, Menlo Ventures |
Company Profile
Leadership and Team
Netlify's executive leadership is anchored by its co-founders, who have shaped the company's direction since its establishment in 2014. Mathias Biilmann Christensen serves as CEO, overseeing strategic growth and innovation in web development platforms.[1] Christian Bach, the other co-founder, holds the roles of Chief Creative Officer (CCO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), focusing on creative initiatives and long-term strategic planning.[27] The broader executive team includes key figures supporting financial, marketing, and security functions. Iain Hassall acts as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), managing fiscal operations and funding strategies.[27] Dorian Kendal, as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), drives global marketing efforts and brand positioning.[27] Mark Dorsi joined as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in 2022, enhancing the company's cybersecurity framework amid increasing digital threats.[28] Netlify maintains a remote-first organizational structure, with approximately 200 employees as of 2024 distributed across global locations to foster diverse collaboration and innovation.[20][29] This distributed workforce supports the company's emphasis on scalable, developer-centric tools while enabling flexibility in addressing emerging challenges like AI integration and enhanced security protocols.Operations and Global Presence
Netlify is headquartered at 512 2nd Street in San Francisco, California, serving as the central hub for its executive operations and strategic decision-making.[30] This location anchors the company's presence in the heart of the tech ecosystem, facilitating proximity to key talent and industry partners in the Bay Area. The company maintains a remote-first policy, with its global team distributed across multiple countries and fully remote by design since its founding in 2014.[29] This distributed model enables collaboration among approximately 200 employees worldwide as of 2024, fostering a diverse workforce without reliance on physical offices beyond the headquarters.[20] Netlify's operational focus centers on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, prioritizing developer tools for web building, deployment, and scaling, alongside robust cloud infrastructure to eliminate traditional DevOps overhead.[1] For infrastructure, Netlify leverages partnerships with leading cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Rackspace, to deliver content via a global content delivery network (CDN).[31] This multi-cloud approach ensures high availability and low-latency performance, with deployments across more than 100 points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, covering regions in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America.[2]Platform Features
Building and Deployment Tools
Netlify's building and deployment tools enable developers to automate the process of transforming code into live web applications through a streamlined pipeline aligned with the JAMstack approach.[32] A simple method for deploying static websites is available via Netlify Drop, where users visit https://app.netlify.com/drop and drag and drop their project folder—containing files such as index.html, CSS, and JS—into the provided frame. Netlify then automatically builds the site and provides an instant HTTPS URL, such as https://your-site-name.netlify.app.[](https://app.netlify.com/drop) Continuous deployment is a core feature, allowing automatic builds and deploys whenever code is pushed to connected repositories on Git providers such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.[33] This integration triggers a build process upon detecting changes in specified branches, ensuring that updates are rapidly reflected without manual intervention.[34] The platform allocates build minutes as a measure of compute time for processing builds, with free tiers offering a set number per month and additional packs available for purchase to accommodate larger projects.[35] Custom build environments support various runtimes, including Node.js for JavaScript-based projects, Ruby for legacy applications, and others like Python and Go, allowing users to specify versions via environment variables for consistent reproduction of local setups.[36][37] Deploy previews generate unique, temporary URLs for pull requests, providing isolated testing environments that update automatically with each commit to facilitate collaboration and review.[38] For reliability, Netlify employs atomic deploys, which ensure that site updates occur as indivisible units without downtime, enabling instant rollbacks to previous versions if issues arise post-deployment.[12] Netlify integrates seamlessly with popular static site generators, including Gatsby for React-based sites, Hugo for fast Go-powered builds, and Next.js for hybrid static-dynamic applications, often requiring minimal configuration to leverage the platform's build system.[39][40][41]Hosting and Edge Computing
Netlify's hosting infrastructure leverages a global content delivery network (CDN) to distribute static assets and entire web applications across over 100 edge locations worldwide, ensuring low-latency delivery by serving content from the nearest point of presence to the user.[42] This setup eliminates the need for users to manage their own servers or traditional CDNs, as every deployment automatically publishes assets to these edge nodes for optimized performance, with response times up to 50% faster on the High-Performance Edge network.[42] The platform's edge distribution also incorporates automated prerendering and caching strategies to further reduce load times and enhance reliability for global audiences.[43] Security and domain management are seamlessly integrated into the hosting process. Connecting custom domains is available free of charge on the Starter (Free) plan, including automatic SSL provisioning, with no additional costs or announced changes for 2026.[44] Automatic HTTPS provisioning is enabled for all sites using Let's Encrypt certificates, which are renewed automatically without user intervention.[45] Users can add custom domains through Netlify's dashboard by navigating to "Domain management" > "Add custom domain" and entering the domain (e.g., example.com or www.example.com). Domains may be purchased from an external registrar (such as Namecheap or GoDaddy) or directly through Netlify. Netlify recommends using Netlify DNS for automatic configuration, SSL provisioning, and optimized performance. Alternatively, with an external DNS provider, users must configure the appropriate records: for apex domains (e.g., example.com), an ALIAS or ANAME record to apex-loadbalancer.netlify.com or an A record to 75.2.60.5; for www subdomains (e.g., www.example.com), a CNAME record to the site's Netlify subdomain (e.g., your-site.netlify.app). DNS propagation typically takes up to 48 hours and can be verified using tools like dnschecker.org. Once properly configured, Netlify automatically provisions free SSL certificates. These options allow for straightforward branding and secure deployment of personal or production domains.[46] Netlify introduced Edge Functions in April 2022 as a serverless compute runtime powered by Deno, enabling developers to execute JavaScript or TypeScript code at the network edge for tasks such as middleware processing, content personalization, and dynamic routing.[17] These functions run in a standards-based environment close to users, supporting use cases like geolocation-based adaptations or authentication without the overhead of traditional backend servers, and they reached general availability in June 2023 with enhanced reliability features.[47] To support optimization and experimentation, Netlify provides built-in site analytics through its dashboard, offering insights into traffic, performance metrics like Core Web Vitals, and visitor behavior to inform hosting decisions. Additionally, the platform's split testing capability allows for A/B deployments by dividing traffic across different site versions directly from the CDN, enabling performance comparisons and phased rollouts without impacting download speeds or requiring external tools.[48]Serverless Functions and Backend
Netlify Functions provide serverless compute capabilities, allowing developers to run backend code without managing servers. These functions support JavaScript, TypeScript, and Go, enabling the creation of API endpoints that integrate seamlessly with static sites. They execute on AWS Lambda, with a maximum runtime of 30 seconds for synchronous calls and up to 15 minutes for background functions, each allocated 1024 MB of memory. The free tier includes 125,000 invocations per month and 100 hours of runtime, scaling affordably for production use.[44] Netlify Forms offer serverless handling for user submissions, eliminating the need for custom backend setup. By adding a simple attribute likedata-netlify="true" to HTML forms, submissions are automatically captured, sanitized for security, and stored in the Netlify dashboard. Spam protection is integrated via Akismet, which filters submissions in real-time, ensuring only legitimate entries are processed. Developers can configure notifications, such as email alerts or webhooks, for new submissions, and support file uploads up to 8 MB with a 30-second timeout.
The Netlify Identity service facilitates user authentication using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for secure access control. It leverages the open-source GoTrue API to manage sign-ups, logins, and password recovery, with built-in support for OAuth 2.0 providers like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. Once enabled in the site settings, developers can integrate the service via the Netlify Identity widget or the gotrue-js client library, allowing role-based access and user metadata storage without additional infrastructure. This enables features like gated content and administrative panels directly within Netlify-hosted applications.[49][50]
For data storage, Netlify offers Netlify DB, a serverless PostgreSQL database powered by Neon, launched in June 2025 for AI-native development. Users can provision a database instance directly from the Netlify dashboard or CLI with a single command, enabling ACID-compliant transactions, GraphQL querying, and seamless integration within serverless functions. This supports building stateful applications on the JAMstack, with automatic scaling and global distribution. Complementing these, Edge Functions provide low-latency execution for tasks like personalization, running JavaScript at Netlify's edge network.[18][51]