diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3969f67fc1f..fc84e01395a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/bep/tmc v0.5.1
 	github.com/disintegration/gift v1.2.1
 	github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.0
+	github.com/evanw/esbuild v0.6.1
 	github.com/fortytw2/leaktest v1.3.0
 	github.com/frankban/quicktest v1.7.2
 	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.4.7
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 7549b18227e..a4ffd884010 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -117,6 +117,8 @@ github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.0/go.mod h1:HtrtbFcZ19U5GC7JDqmcUSB87Iq5E25Kn
 github.com/eapache/go-resiliency v1.1.0/go.mod h1:kFI+JgMyC7bLPUVY133qvEBtVayf5mFgVsvEsIPBvNs=
 github.com/eapache/go-xerial-snappy v0.0.0-20180814174437-776d5712da21/go.mod h1:+020luEh2TKB4/GOp8oxxtq0Daoen/Cii55CzbTV6DU=
 github.com/eapache/queue v1.1.0/go.mod h1:6eCeP0CKFpHLu8blIFXhExK/dRa7WDZfr6jVFPTqq+I=
+github.com/evanw/esbuild v0.6.1 h1:XkoACQJCiqUmwySWssu0/iUj7J6IbNMR9dqbSbh1/vk=
+github.com/evanw/esbuild v0.6.1/go.mod h1:mptxmSXIzBIKKCe4jo9A5SToEd1G+AKZ9JmY85dYRJ0=
 github.com/fortytw2/leaktest v1.2.0 h1:cj6GCiwJDH7l3tMHLjZDo0QqPtrXJiWSI9JgpeQKw+Q=
 github.com/fortytw2/leaktest v1.2.0/go.mod h1:jDsjWgpAGjm2CA7WthBh/CdZYEPF31XHquHwclZch5g=
 github.com/fortytw2/leaktest v1.3.0 h1:u8491cBMTQ8ft8aeV+adlcytMZylmA5nnwwkRZjI8vw=
@@ -226,6 +228,7 @@ github.com/kr/pretty v0.2.0/go.mod h1:ipq/a2n7PKx3OHsz4KJII5eveXtPO4qwEXGdVfWzfn
 github.com/kr/pty v1.1.1/go.mod h1:pFQYn66WHrOpPYNljwOMqo10TkYh1fy3cYio2l3bCsQ=
 github.com/kr/text v0.1.0 h1:45sCR5RtlFHMR4UwH9sdQ5TC8v0qDQCHnXt+kaKSTVE=
 github.com/kr/text v0.1.0/go.mod h1:4Jbv+DJW3UT/LiOwJeYQe1efqtUx/iVham/4vfdArNI=
+github.com/kylelemons/godebug v1.1.0/go.mod h1:9/0rRGxNHcop5bhtWyNeEfOS8JIWk580+fNqagV/RAw=
 github.com/kyokomi/emoji v2.2.1+incompatible h1:uP/6J5y5U0XxPh6fv8YximpVD1uMrshXG78I1+uF5SA=
 github.com/kyokomi/emoji v2.2.1+incompatible/go.mod h1:mZ6aGCD7yk8j6QY6KICwnZ2pxoszVseX1DNoGtU2tBA=
 github.com/lib/pq v1.1.0/go.mod h1:5WUZQaWbwv1U+lTReE5YruASi9Al49XbQIvNi/34Woo=
@@ -485,6 +488,8 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200116001909-b77594299b42/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200223170610-d5e6a3e2c0ae/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200413165638-669c56c373c4 h1:opSr2sbRXk5X5/givKrrKj9HXxFpW2sdCiP8MJSKLQY=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200413165638-669c56c373c4/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200501145240-bc7a7d42d5c3 h1:5B6i6EAiSYyejWfvc5Rc9BbI3rzIsrrXfAQBWnYfn+w=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200501145240-bc7a7d42d5c3/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0 h1:g61tztE5qeGQ89tm6NTjjM9VPIm088od1l6aSorWRWg=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.1-0.20180807135948-17ff2d5776d2 h1:z99zHgr7hKfrUcX/KsoJk5FJfjTceCKIp96+biqP4To=
diff --git a/hugolib/js_test.go b/hugolib/js_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1e59927c79f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hugolib/js_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Hugo Authors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package hugolib
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/htesting"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+
+	qt "github.com/frankban/quicktest"
+
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/hugofs"
+
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/common/loggers"
+)
+
+func TestJS_Build(t *testing.T) {
+	if !isCI() {
+		t.Skip("skip (relative) long running modules test when running locally")
+	}
+
+	wd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	defer func() {
+		os.Chdir(wd)
+	}()
+
+	c := qt.New(t)
+
+	mainJS := `
+	import "./included";
+	console.log("main");
+	`
+	includedJS := `
+	console.log("included");
+	`
+
+	workDir, clean, err := htesting.CreateTempDir(hugofs.Os, "hugo-test-babel")
+	c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+	defer clean()
+
+	v := viper.New()
+	v.Set("workingDir", workDir)
+	v.Set("disableKinds", []string{"taxonomy", "term", "page"})
+	b := newTestSitesBuilder(t).WithLogger(loggers.NewWarningLogger())
+
+	// Need to use OS fs for this.
+	b.Fs = hugofs.NewDefault(v)
+	b.WithWorkingDir(workDir)
+	b.WithViper(v)
+	b.WithContent("p1.md", "")
+
+	b.WithTemplates("index.html", `
+	{{ $options := dict "minify" true }}
+	{{ $transpiled := resources.Get "js/main.js" | js.Build $options }}
+	Built: {{ $transpiled.Content | safeJS }}
+	`)
+
+	jsDir := filepath.Join(workDir, "assets", "js")
+	b.Assert(os.MkdirAll(jsDir, 0777), qt.IsNil)
+	b.WithSourceFile("assets/js/main.js", mainJS)
+	b.WithSourceFile("assets/js/included.js", includedJS)
+
+	_, err = captureStdout(func() error {
+		return b.BuildE(BuildCfg{})
+	})
+	b.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html", `
+  Built: (()=>{console.log("included");console.log("main");})();
+	`)
+
+}
diff --git a/resources/resource_transformers/js/build.go b/resources/resource_transformers/js/build.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6224ee178ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/resource_transformers/js/build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Hugo Authors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package js
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"path"
+
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/hugolib/filesystems"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources/internal"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
+
+	"github.com/evanw/esbuild/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources/resource"
+)
+
+type Options struct {
+	Minify      bool
+	Externals   []string
+	Target      string
+	Loader      string
+	Defines     map[string]string
+	JSXFactory  string
+	JSXFragment string
+	TSConfig    string
+}
+
+func DecodeOptions(m map[string]interface{}) (opts Options, err error) {
+	if m == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = mapstructure.WeakDecode(m, &opts)
+	return
+}
+
+type Client struct {
+	rs  *resources.Spec
+	sfs *filesystems.SourceFilesystem
+}
+
+func New(fs *filesystems.SourceFilesystem, rs *resources.Spec) *Client {
+	return &Client{rs: rs, sfs: fs}
+}
+
+type buildTransformation struct {
+	options Options
+	rs      *resources.Spec
+	sfs     *filesystems.SourceFilesystem
+}
+
+func (t *buildTransformation) Key() internal.ResourceTransformationKey {
+	return internal.NewResourceTransformationKey("jsbuild", t.options)
+}
+
+func (t *buildTransformation) Transform(ctx *resources.ResourceTransformationCtx) error {
+	var target api.Target
+	switch t.options.Target {
+	case "", "esnext":
+		target = api.ESNext
+	case "es6", "es2015":
+		target = api.ES2015
+	case "es2016":
+		target = api.ES2016
+	case "es2017":
+		target = api.ES2017
+	case "es2018":
+		target = api.ES2018
+	case "es2019":
+		target = api.ES2019
+	case "es2020":
+		target = api.ES2020
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid target: %q", t.options.Target)
+	}
+
+	var loader api.Loader
+	switch t.options.Loader {
+	case "", "js":
+		loader = api.LoaderJS
+	case "jsx":
+		loader = api.LoaderJSX
+	case "ts":
+		loader = api.LoaderTS
+	case "tsx":
+		loader = api.LoaderTSX
+	case "json":
+		loader = api.LoaderJSON
+	case "text":
+		loader = api.LoaderText
+	case "base64":
+		loader = api.LoaderBase64
+	case "dataURL":
+		loader = api.LoaderDataURL
+	case "file":
+		loader = api.LoaderFile
+	case "binary":
+		loader = api.LoaderBinary
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid loader: %q", t.options.Loader)
+	}
+
+	src, err := ioutil.ReadAll(ctx.From)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	sdir, sfile := path.Split(ctx.SourcePath)
+	sdir = t.sfs.RealFilename(sdir)
+
+	buildOptions := api.BuildOptions{
+		Outfile: "",
+		Bundle:  true,
+
+		Target: target,
+
+		MinifyWhitespace:  t.options.Minify,
+		MinifyIdentifiers: t.options.Minify,
+		MinifySyntax:      t.options.Minify,
+
+		Defines: t.options.Defines,
+
+		Externals: t.options.Externals,
+
+		JSXFactory:  t.options.JSXFactory,
+		JSXFragment: t.options.JSXFragment,
+
+		Tsconfig: t.options.TSConfig,
+
+		Stdin: &api.StdinOptions{
+			Contents:   string(src),
+			Sourcefile: sfile,
+			ResolveDir: sdir,
+			Loader:     loader,
+		},
+	}
+	result := api.Build(buildOptions)
+	if len(result.Errors) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%s", result.Errors[0].Text)
+	}
+	if len(result.OutputFiles) != 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected output count: %d", len(result.OutputFiles))
+	}
+
+	ctx.To.Write(result.OutputFiles[0].Contents)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (c *Client) Process(res resources.ResourceTransformer, options Options) (resource.Resource, error) {
+	return res.Transform(
+		&buildTransformation{rs: c.rs, sfs: c.sfs, options: options},
+	)
+}
diff --git a/tpl/js/init.go b/tpl/js/init.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0af10bb10b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tpl/js/init.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Hugo Authors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package js
+
+import (
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/deps"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/internal"
+)
+
+const name = "js"
+
+func init() {
+	f := func(d *deps.Deps) *internal.TemplateFuncsNamespace {
+		ctx := New(d)
+
+		ns := &internal.TemplateFuncsNamespace{
+			Name:    name,
+			Context: func(args ...interface{}) interface{} { return ctx },
+		}
+
+		return ns
+	}
+
+	internal.AddTemplateFuncsNamespace(f)
+}
diff --git a/tpl/js/js.go b/tpl/js/js.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d8ba35a76ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tpl/js/js.go
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Hugo Authors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+// Package js provides functions for building JavaScript resources
+package js
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/common/maps"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/deps"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources/resource"
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/resources/resource_transformers/js"
+	_errors "github.com/pkg/errors"
+)
+
+// New returns a new instance of the js-namespaced template functions.
+func New(deps *deps.Deps) *Namespace {
+	return &Namespace{
+		client: js.New(deps.BaseFs.Assets, deps.ResourceSpec),
+	}
+}
+
+// Namespace provides template functions for the "js" namespace.
+type Namespace struct {
+	deps   *deps.Deps
+	client *js.Client
+}
+
+// Build processes the given Resource with ESBuild.
+func (ns *Namespace) Build(args ...interface{}) (resource.Resource, error) {
+	r, m, err := ns.resolveArgs(args)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var options js.Options
+	if m != nil {
+		options, err = js.DecodeOptions(m)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ns.client.Process(r, options)
+
+}
+
+// This roundabout way of doing it is needed to get both pipeline behaviour and options as arguments.
+// This is a copy of tpl/resources/resolveArgs
+func (ns *Namespace) resolveArgs(args []interface{}) (resources.ResourceTransformer, map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	if len(args) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil, errors.New("no Resource provided in transformation")
+	}
+
+	if len(args) == 1 {
+		r, ok := args[0].(resources.ResourceTransformer)
+		if !ok {
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("type %T not supported in Resource transformations", args[0])
+		}
+		return r, nil, nil
+	}
+
+	r, ok := args[1].(resources.ResourceTransformer)
+	if !ok {
+		if _, ok := args[1].(map[string]interface{}); !ok {
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("no Resource provided in transformation")
+		}
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("type %T not supported in Resource transformations", args[0])
+	}
+
+	m, err := maps.ToStringMapE(args[0])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, _errors.Wrap(err, "invalid options type")
+	}
+
+	return r, m, nil
+}
diff --git a/tpl/tplimpl/template_funcs.go b/tpl/tplimpl/template_funcs.go
index 9141de3f17f..a688abb7709 100644
--- a/tpl/tplimpl/template_funcs.go
+++ b/tpl/tplimpl/template_funcs.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/hugo"
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/images"
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/inflect"
+	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/js"
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/lang"
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/math"
 	_ "github.com/gohugoio/hugo/tpl/openapi/openapi3"