Grain vs Jekyll
Grain
github.comJekyll
jekyllrb.comSide by side
| Figure | Grain | Jekyll |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 2 |
| Spec score · Static site generators | 7.0 (#33) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Content formats | Grain supports Markdown, reStructuredText, and AsciiDoctor. | Markdown, Liquid, HTML, and CSS go in, and static sites ready for deployment come out. |
| Deployment | Grain can generate website files and deploy them manually or with its deploy command. | Because output is static, Jekyll sites can be deployed manually, through automation or with third-party hosting. |
| License | The README states that Grain is licensed under Apache License 2.0. | Jekyll is open source and distributed under the MIT License. |
| Themes | The project lists responsive themes including Agency, Clean Blog, Freelancer, New Age, and Octopress. | The theme system packages layouts, includes, stylesheets, assets and plugins, and site files can override theme defaults. |
| What it does | Grain is a Groovy framework and static website generator for company websites and personal blogs. | Jekyll converts Markdown, Liquid, HTML and CSS source files into deployable static websites and blogs. |
| Windows support | The README says Windows users should run the grainw command instead of ./grainw. | Windows is not officially supported, but the documentation describes RubyInstaller and Windows Subsystem for Linux setups. |
Plans
In their own words
Jekyll
Jekyll is a free, open-source tool that turns plain text into static websites and blogs. It combines Markdown, Liquid, HTML, and CSS with layouts, producing static files ready for deployment. Blog features include permalinks, categories, pages, posts, and custom layouts. A plugin system with hooks can generate content and extend builds without changing Jekyll itself. Community-maintained themes provide templates and styles, and site content can override theme files. Generated sites may be deployed manually, through automation, or with third-party services. GitHub Pages is powered by Jekyll and offers free hosting with custom domain support. Jekyll supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted use. Installation requires Ruby 2.7.0 or higher, RubyGems, GCC, and Make. Safe mode requires explicit plugin permission through a whitelist. A volunteer core team maintains the project.