Gradle counterpart to Maven archetype?

Use build init plugin:

~$ mkdir newproj
~$ cd newproj
~/newproj$ gradle init --type java-library

At the moment java-library, scala-library, groovy-library, java-application, pom and basic supported. The feature is incubating, thus it can be changed in future releases, so keep an eye on docs.

Gradle doesn't support this (yet). There's a open feature request opened already.

There is no gradle counterpart as far as I know. However following the steps given below is enough for most cases:

• Generate project with maven and your selection of maven archetype.
• Convert the maven project to gradle project. You can do that by executing the below command in the directory where your master pom.xml is located:

gradle init

It is supposed to work with all basic maven archetypes.

While this is not yet supported by Gradle, the gradle:templates plugin looks promising:

Gradle don't support build-in archetype-like feature, but you can use plug-in named Gradle templates

Read more:
Does gradle have Maven archetype-like functionality?
Gradle archetypes issue