Hugo vs Nanoc
Hugo
gohugo.ioNanoc
nanoc.denisdefreyne.comSide by side
| Figure | Hugo | Nanoc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Static site generators | 8.6 (#7) | 8.7 (#6) |
| Content sources | markdown | database |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Software license | Hugo is distributed under the Apache 2.0 License. | Nanoc is licensed under the MIT license. |
| Multilingual support | Hugo supports multilingual websites. | Yes |
| Local preview server | Yes | Yes |
| Supported languages | Go,Ruby,Python | Ruby |
Plans
In their own words
Hugo
Hugo is a free, open-source static site generator that builds sites from Markdown. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, supports multilingual content, and includes a local preview server for development. Its taxonomy system organizes site content, while asset tools cover image processing, JavaScript bundling, and Sass; TailwindCSS is also supported. Hugo is written in Go and distributed under the Apache 2.0 License. The project lists documentation, corporate, government, nonprofit, education, news, event, and project sites among its uses. Large sites often render in seconds. Hugo is actively maintained and has a fast release cycle. The listed supported languages are Go, Ruby, and Python. Hugo is free to use, and its pricing model is listed as free; no price is listed for the Hugo Open Source plan. The listed pricing page returns a page-not-found response.
Nanoc
Nanoc is a free static-site generator that turns content such as Markdown or AsciiDoc into HTML. It is a command-line application for local site development and generating finished sites for deployment, not a CMS; content is usually managed on the filesystem. Its scope ranges from personal blogs to corporate websites. Free-form metadata lets pages take different roles, and markup options include Markdown, AsciiDoc and Textile, with eRuby, Haml and Mustache among its template languages. Users can write custom filters and helpers or bring in data from databases and web APIs. Nanoc supports incremental builds, multilingual sites and a local preview server. Deployment integrations include Git, rsync, GitHub Pages, Bitbucket, GitLab Pages and Netlify, and the tool can run checks before deployment. Ruby 3.1 or later is required, with CRuby needed for guaranteed support. macOS and Linux are officially supported; Windows has limitations and is not officially supported. Nanoc is MIT-licensed.