Hugo, Jekyll, and Eleventy all output plain static HTML that can run on GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or an S3 bucket. Choose based on your language ecosystem, template needs, and build workflow.
| Generator | Language | Build speed | Templating | Hosting fit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo | Go | Its site calls it the world's fastest framework for building websites and says sites build in seconds or less | Go templates | Any static host. It ships as a single binary with no runtime dependencies | Large sites and people who want no Node or Ruby toolchain |
| Jekyll | Ruby | No benchmark is given here. Users commonly report slower builds as sites grow | Liquid | GitHub Pages builds Jekyll sites natively. It also runs on any static host | Small blogs and docs hosted on GitHub Pages |
| Eleventy | JavaScript on Node.js | No number given here | Nunjucks, Liquid, Markdown, WebC, JavaScript, and more | Any static host. It ships zero client-side JavaScript by default | People already in the Node ecosystem who want flexible templates |
Which one to pick
- Pick Hugo for large sites, fast builds, and a setup without Node or Ruby.
- Pick Jekyll for a small blog or documentation site that you plan to host on GitHub Pages.
- Pick Eleventy if you already use Node.js and want to choose from many template languages.