diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/index.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/index.ts
index bc5e465f627ea..5f6b835b8cab6 100644
--- a/packages/create-gatsby/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ import cmses from "./cmses.json"
 import styles from "./styles.json"
 import features from "./features.json"
 import { initStarter } from "./init-starter"
+import { installPlugins } from "./install-plugins"
 import c from "ansi-colors"
+import path from "path"
 
 const makeChoices = (
   options: Record<string, string>
@@ -72,10 +74,14 @@ export async function run(): Promise<void> {
   const messages: Array<string> = [
     `🛠  Create a new Gatsby site in the folder ${c.blueBright(data.project)}`,
   ]
+
+  const plugins = []
+
   if (data.cms && data.cms !== `none`) {
     messages.push(
       `📚 Install and configure the plugin for ${c.red(cmses[data.cms])}`
     )
+    plugins.push(data.cms)
   }
 
   if (data.styling && data.styling !== `none`) {
@@ -84,12 +90,16 @@ export async function run(): Promise<void> {
         styles[data.styling]
       )} for styling your site`
     )
+    plugins.push(data.styling)
   }
 
   if (data.features?.length) {
     messages.push(
-      `🔌 Install ${data.features.map(feat => c.magenta(feat)).join(`, `)}`
+      `🔌 Install ${data.features
+        .map((feat: string) => c.magenta(feat))
+        .join(`, `)}`
     )
+    plugins.push(...data.features)
   }
 
   console.log(`
@@ -115,9 +125,8 @@ ${c.bold(`Thanks! Here's what we'll now do:`)}
     `https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby-starter-hello-world.git`,
     data.project
   )
-  console.log(
-    `This is the point where we'd then install the plugins, but ${c.redBright(
-      `gatsby plugin add`
-    )} hasn't been implemented yet`
-  )
+
+  console.log(c.bold.green(`Installing plugins...`))
+
+  await installPlugins(plugins, path.resolve(data.project))
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/init-starter.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/init-starter.ts
index 7cec65712bc79..0af627891d87c 100644
--- a/packages/create-gatsby/src/init-starter.ts
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/init-starter.ts
@@ -170,29 +170,14 @@ interface IGetPaths {
   selectedOtherStarter: boolean
 }
 
-const successMessage = (): void => {
+const successMessage = (rootPath: string): void => {
   reporter.info(`
 Your new Gatsby site has been successfully bootstrapped. Start developing it by running:
+  cd ${rootPath}
   gatsby develop
 `)
 }
 
-export async function installPlugins(
-  plugins: Array<string>,
-  rootPath: string
-): Promise<void> {
-  const command = require.resolve(`gatsby-cli/lib/create-cli`, {
-    paths: [rootPath],
-  })
-
-  if (!command) {
-    reporter.error(`Did not install Gatsby`)
-    return void 0
-  }
-  const { createCli } = require(command)
-  return createCli([process.argv[0], command, `plugin`, `add`, ...plugins])
-}
-
 /**
  * Main function that clones or copies the starter.
  */
@@ -204,11 +189,6 @@ export async function initStarter(
 
   await clone(starter, sitePath)
 
-  //   await installPlugins(
-  //     [`gatsby-plugin-image`, `gatsby-transformer-sharp`],
-  //     sitePath
-  //   )
-
   const sitePackageJson = await fs
     .readJSON(path.join(sitePath, `package.json`))
     .catch(() => {
@@ -226,6 +206,6 @@ export async function initStarter(
     false
   )
 
-  successMessage()
+  successMessage(rootPath)
   // trackCli(`NEW_PROJECT_END`);
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/install-plugins.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/install-plugins.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..15a3244024f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/install-plugins.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { reporter } from "./reporter"
+
+export async function installPlugins(
+  plugins: Array<string>,
+  rootPath: string
+): Promise<void> {
+  let installPluginCommand
+
+  try {
+    installPluginCommand = require.resolve(`gatsby-cli/lib/plugin-add`, {
+      paths: [rootPath],
+    })
+  } catch (e) {
+    // The file is missing
+  }
+
+  if (!installPluginCommand) {
+    reporter.error(
+      `Did not install Gatsby, or the version of gatsby-cli is too old`
+    )
+    return void 0
+  }
+
+  const { addPlugins } = require(installPluginCommand)
+
+  return addPlugins(plugins, rootPath)
+}