Tech riderRev. 3 Oct 2026

Cecil

Ch 028.5of 35 Static site generators

1Runs onLinux, Mac, Windows
2CostsFree plan
3Content sourcesmarkdown
4Incremental buildsYes
5Multilingual supportYes
6Local preview serverYes
7Supported languagesPHP

7 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: cecil.app

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Overview

Cecil is ranked #2 of 35 in static site generators on Specifiction, made by Cecil. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. There is a free plan.

Cecil plans and pricing

All plans

Free software Free No cost or usage limits are stated; Cecil is distributed under the EUPL-1.2 license cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on static site generators

Free plan: Yescecil.app
Content sources: markdowncecil.app
Incremental builds: Yescecil.app
Multilingual support: Yescecil.app
Local preview server: Yescecil.app
Supported languages: PHPcecil.app

Facts

Product: Cecil is a command-line PHP application that combines Markdown pages, media, and Twig templates to generate static websites.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Storage and security: Cecil stores content in Markdown flat files, and its site says it has no database, server, or dependency for the generated site.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Templates: Cecil uses the Twig template engine and supports themes for customizable websites.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Generated content: Cecil automatically generates pagination, sitemaps, redirects, robots.txt, taxonomies, and RSS.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Images: Cecil can automatically generate responsive images in WebP and AVIF formats and compress them to reduce load time.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Localization: Cecil supports multilingual content localization and template translation.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
SEO: Cecil provides helpers to generate Open Graph meta tags, Twitter cards, and structured data.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Deployment: The maker documents deployment recipes for platforms including Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, and GitLab Pages.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Starter kits: Cecil offers starter kits including a publishing blog, a Linktree alternative, a self-hosted photo stream, and a documentation site.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
License: Cecil is free software distributed under the EUPL-1.2 license.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
System requirement: The download page says PHP 8.2 or later is required.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Supported installation platforms: The maker documents installation on macOS with Homebrew, Windows with Scoop, and Linux using the downloaded PHAR file.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Intended users: Cecil is designed for creators who want a website where performance is a technical priority while retaining design flexibility.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
Maintainer and history: Cecil is maintained by web and eCommerce consultant Arnaud Ligny, and its first functional version was published in September 2013.cecil.app · 2 Oct 2026
What it does: Cecil is a PHP command-line static site generator that combines Markdown pages, media, and Twig templates to generate static websites.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Content: Content is stored in Markdown flat files with front matter.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Image optimization: Cecil automatically generates responsive images in WebP and AVIF formats and compresses them.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Deployment integrations: The documentation provides deployment recipes for Netlify, Vercel, statichost, GitHub Pages, GitLab CI, and Surge.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Platform limitation: The documentation says Cloudflare Pages and Render no longer support PHP.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Requirements: PHP 8.2 or later is required.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Installation: Cecil can be downloaded as a PHAR file and installed globally through Homebrew on macOS, Scoop on Windows, PHIVE, or a manual Linux command.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Security: The maker says generated static HTML has no database or server-side script execution during visits, avoiding vulnerabilities related to dynamic PHP on the final site.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026
Maintenance: Cecil is maintained by Arnaud Ligny, described as a Web and eCommerce consultant.cecil.app · 3 Oct 2026