The Crossover
HTMX — a single JavaScript file that extends HTML with Ajax attributes — now has more detected sites than Gatsby and SvelteKit. Not combined. Each individually. The library with no venture backer, no conference circuit, no marketing budget, no build step, and no npm dependency tree quietly passed two of the most-discussed modern frameworks in real-world deployment.
How HTMX Won Without Trying
Gatsby had Netlify's backing, a funded company, conference talks, and years of developer marketing. SvelteKit had Rich Harris, the New York Times engineering pedigree, and framework comparison articles placing it alongside Next.js. HTMX had Carson Gross, a philosophy of 'HTML is the application,' and a refusal to participate in the JavaScript framework conversation. At 10 million detections, the anti-framework has more real-world presence than both.
The Geographic Signature
HTMX's distribution maps developer culture, not markets. Japan leads with 1,672 sites — a culture that values simplicity. The Basque Country (.eus) has 10% HTMX adoption. .ai domains run 5% HTMX. The framework spreads through communities that value elegance over ecosystem, craftsmanship over convenience. It won where developers choose deliberately, not where procurement departments decide.
What This Means
The HTMX crossover is a signal about how frameworks actually win. Gatsby and SvelteKit followed the playbook: company, conference, content marketing, developer relations. HTMX followed no playbook at all. It just worked, in the way HTML was supposed to work, and developers who cared about that found it. At 11,482 sites, the anti-framework proved that the playbook isn't the only path.
