Cecil vs Grain
Cecil
cecil.appGrain
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Cecil | Grain |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Static site generators | 8.8 (#3) | 7.0 (#33) |
| Content sources | markdown | markdown |
| Deployment | The maker documents deployment recipes for platforms including Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, and GitLab Pages. | Grain can generate website files and deploy them manually or with its deploy command. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Intended users | Cecil is designed for creators who prioritize website performance while retaining design flexibility. | SysGears describes Grain as suitable for demanding static websites and says it includes themes and examples to help users get started. |
| License | Cecil is free software distributed under the EUPL-1.2 license. | The README states that Grain is licensed under Apache License 2.0. |
| Local preview server | Yes | Yes |
| Requirements | PHP 8.2 or later is required. | Running a Grain project requires JDK 7 or later. |
| Supported languages | PHP | Groovy,Java |
| What it does | Cecil is a PHP command-line static site generator that combines Markdown pages, media, and Twig templates to generate static websites. | Grain is a Groovy framework and static website generator for company websites and personal blogs. |
Plans
In their own words
Cecil
Cecil is a free command-line PHP application that generates static websites from Markdown pages, media, and Twig templates. It stores content in Markdown files with front matter and supports themes for changing site design. The generator can create pagination, sitemaps, redirects, robots.txt, taxonomies, RSS, and SEO metadata such as Open Graph tags, Twitter cards, and structured data. It can also produce responsive WebP and AVIF images and compress them. Multilingual content and template translation are supported, as is a local preview server. Cecil generates static HTML; its maker says site visits do not require a database or server-side script execution. Installation is documented for macOS, Windows, and Linux, but PHP 8.2 or later is required. Deployment recipes cover services including Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, and GitLab Pages. The project is distributed under the EUPL-1.2 license and maintained by Arnaud Ligny. Cecil is free software at free, with no cost or usage limits stated.