Lume vs Metalsmith

Lume is a free static site generator for Deno, suited to projects that keep their content in files and publish static websites. It handles Markdown and supports formats including YAML, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, Vento, and Nunjucks, with room to add more formats. Site data can come from JSON or YAML files, or from a database or API through JavaScript or TypeScript. Processors can alter HTML, CSS, and JavaScript assets, while plugins add options for areas such as image processing, SEO, internationalization, and template engines. Lume says its output does not add client-side JavaScript. It uses Deno and HTTPS imports to obtain project dependencies, and Deno must be installed before setup. Generated sites can be deployed through services including GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, Codeberg Pages, Deno Deploy, Netlify, Vercel, and Cloudflare Pages. Since it generates static sites only, interactive features such as forms, comments, and search need separate approaches or integrations. Content remains in repository files that can be edited, exported, or moved.

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.