Jigsaw vs Metalsmith
Jigsaw
jigsaw.tighten.coMetalsmith
metalsmith.ioSide by side
| Figure | Jigsaw | Metalsmith |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Static site generators | 7.6 (#21) | 8.6 (#9) |
| Content sources | markdown | markdown |
| Deployment | The documentation describes deploying Jigsaw sites to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Amazon S3, Kinsta Application Hosting, or an existing server. | Builds are static folders that can be deployed to a CDN, Netlify, GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, SFTP host or custom server over SSH. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Local preview server | Yes | No |
| Supported languages | PHP,Node.js | JavaScript,TypeScript,Node.js |
Plans
In their own words
Metalsmith
Metalsmith is a free, pluggable static-site generator for NodeJS that works more like a library than a framework. It transforms a directory tree into plain JavaScript objects that plugins can manipulate, without requiring a predefined project structure. Developers can use configuration over code or code over configuration, and access the package through either its JavaScript API or command-line interface. It works with npm, Markdown, JSON, YAML, and a templating language of choice. Example uses include static sites, scaffolding, backups, command-line and deployment tools, and eBooks made from Markdown for PDF, ePUB, or MOBI output. Starter repositories cover blog, company, resume, and clean-blog projects. Builds create static folders for deployment to CDNs, Netlify, GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, SFTP hosts, or custom servers. Metalsmith requires NodeJS; the listed platforms include Linux, macOS, and Windows. The documentation says partial rebuilds are not available and suggests using a file watcher and browser synchronization package for automatic rebuilds. No billing terms or prices are stated on the supplied pages.