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Hugo

Very fast open-source static site generator written in Go, shipped as a single binary.

Open sourceSelf-hostableContent management systems
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About Hugo

Hugo is an open-source static site generator written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 licence. It turns folders of Markdown content and templates into a complete static website, and it is known for speed: sites with thousands of pages usually build in seconds. It ships as a single binary with no runtime dependencies, and includes taxonomies, multilingual sites, image processing, Sass and JavaScript bundling, shortcodes and a large theme gallery. That makes it popular for blogs, documentation, company sites and anything that can be pre-rendered and hosted cheaply on a CDN or GitHub Pages. The trade-offs are Go's templating language, which many people find awkward, frequent releases that occasionally change behaviour, and no built-in editing interface, so non-developers need a Git-based CMS such as Decap or CloudCannon on top. It is free and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Best for: Developers who want very fast builds for blogs, docs and content sites.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Extremely fast builds even for large sites
  • Single binary with no runtime dependencies
  • Multilingual, taxonomies and image processing built in

Why people leave

  • Go templates have a steep, awkward learning curve
  • No editing interface for non-developers
  • Frequent releases can change behaviour

Top Hugo alternatives

See all 6
  1. 1Eleventy logo
    Eleventy

    JavaScript-based generator with simpler, flexible templating.

    66.5
  2. 2Astro logo
    Astro

    Modern framework for content sites with components from React, Vue or Svelte.

    62.6
  3. 3Jekyll logo
    Jekyll

    Ruby generator with native GitHub Pages support.

    59.6
  4. 4Gatsby logo
    Gatsby

    React-based framework with a GraphQL data layer.

    57.2
  5. 5Decap CMS logo
    Decap CMS

    Add a free editing interface on top of your Hugo site.

    55.3

Why people left Hugo

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Hugo, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

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Hugo: common questions

Is Hugo free?

Yes. Hugo is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Hugo open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at gohugoio/hugo. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Hugo run on?

Hugo is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Hugo?

The highest-ranked Hugo alternatives right now are Eleventy, Astro and Jekyll. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 6 Hugo alternatives