AstroWind Review 2026: The Best Astro Starter for Marketing Sites

TL;DR

AstroWind is not a SaaS boilerplate — it's the best free Astro starter for marketing and content sites. If you're building a landing page, documentation site, blog, or content platform (not an app), AstroWind is exceptional. Free, performant (Lighthouse 100), and production-ready. Wrong tool for app development, right tool for content-driven products.

What AstroWind Is

Source: github.com/onwidget/astrowind

What it includes:

• Astro 4 + TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Landing page components (hero, features, pricing, testimonials, FAQ)
• Blog with MDX support
• Dark/light mode
• SEO-optimized (meta, OG images, sitemap, robots)
• Lighthouse score ~100
• No JavaScript runtime (static by default)

---

The Performance Case

AstroWind's core value proposition: near-perfect Lighthouse scores by default.

Lighthouse Performance: 100
Accessibility:          100
Best Practices:         100
SEO:                    100

This happens because Astro ships zero JavaScript by default — every component renders to HTML at build time. Only components explicitly marked client:load or client:visible ship JavaScript.

---
// pages/index.astro
import Layout from '~/layouts/PageLayout.astro';
import Hero from '~/components/widgets/Hero.astro';
import Features from '~/components/widgets/Features.astro';
import Pricing from '~/components/widgets/Pricing.astro';
import FAQ from '~/components/widgets/FAQ.astro';
import Stats from '~/components/widgets/Stats.astro';

const metadata = {
  title: 'Your SaaS — Description',
  ignoreTitleTemplate: true,
};
---

<Layout metadata={metadata}>
  <Hero
    tagline="The tagline"
    title="Compelling headline that converts"
    subtitle="Supporting copy that explains the value proposition clearly."
    actions={[
      { text: 'Get Started Free', href: '/signup', variant: 'primary' },
      { text: 'See Demo', href: '/demo' },
    ]}
    image={{ src: '~/assets/images/hero.png', alt: 'Product screenshot' }}
  />

  <Features
    title="Why choose us"
    items={[
      { title: 'Feature 1', description: '...', icon: 'tabler:bolt' },
      { title: 'Feature 2', description: '...', icon: 'tabler:shield' },
      // ...
    ]}
  />

  <Pricing
    title="Simple pricing"
    prices={[
      { title: 'Starter', price: 0, items: ['Feature A', 'Feature B'] },
      { title: 'Pro', price: 49, items: ['Everything', 'More features'] },
    ]}
  />
</Layout>

---

Blog with MDX

AstroWind's blog is production-ready out of the box:

---
// src/content/blog/my-post.mdx
import { Image } from 'astro:assets';
import hero from '~/assets/images/post-hero.jpg';

export const frontmatter = {
  title: 'Post Title',
  excerpt: 'Post excerpt for meta description and cards',
  publishDate: '2026-03-08',
  author: 'Author Name',
  image: { src: hero, alt: 'Hero alt text' },
  tags: ['tag1', 'tag2'],
};
---

# Post Title

Content goes here. Images, code blocks, and MDX components work.

<Image src={hero} alt="Hero" width={800} />

---

When AstroWind Makes Sense

AstroWind is the right choice when:

1. Marketing site for SaaS app — Your app runs elsewhere (Next.js, Rails), and AstroWind is your public-facing site
2. Documentation platform — Static generation means fast, indexed docs
3. Blog/content-first products — No backend needed
4. Landing page MVP — Ship a beautiful landing page quickly while building the app

Common architecture:
  astrowind.com (marketing + blog)  ←  AstroWind (this)
  app.astrowind.com (dashboard)     ←  Next.js / your app

---

What AstroWind Is NOT

AstroWind doesn't include:

• Authentication
• Database
• Billing/payments
• User management
• Server-side logic beyond simple API routes
• Real-time features

If you need those things, you need a different tool.

---

AstroWind vs Next.js for Marketing Sites

Metric	AstroWind (Astro)	Next.js Boilerplate
Lighthouse score	~100	80-90
First paint	<1s (typical)	2-3s (typical)
JavaScript bundle	~0-10KB	100-300KB
Setup time	Hours	Days
Server-side features	Limited	Full
SEO	Excellent	Good

For pure marketing/content use cases, Astro wins on performance every time.

---

Getting Started

npm create astro@latest my-site -- --template onwidget/astrowind

cd my-site
npm install
npm run dev

The template is customizable through src/config.yaml for most settings:

# src/config.yaml
site:
  name: YourSaaS
  site: 'https://yoursite.com'
  base: '/'

metadata:
  title:
    default: YourSaaS
    template: '%s — YourSaaS'
  description: "Your meta description"
  robots: { index: true, follow: true }
  openGraph:
    site_name: YourSaaS
    type: website

---

Who Should Use AstroWind

Good fit:

• Founders building a marketing site for their SaaS
• Content platforms where SEO performance is critical
• Developers who want a free, polished landing page quickly
• Products where the "app" is separate from the marketing site

Bad fit:

• Applications with auth/billing/database needs
• Teams who want one unified codebase (AstroWind is frontend-only)
• Real-time or dynamic content-heavy products

---

Final Verdict

Rating: 4.5/5 for its use case

AstroWind is exceptional at what it does. If you're building a marketing or content site, it's the best free starting point available. The Lighthouse scores, component library, and blog system are all production-quality. Just don't confuse it for a SaaS boilerplate — it's a different tool for a different job.

---

Find the right boilerplate for your next SaaS on StarterPick.