Nanoc vs Nikola
Nanoc
nanoc.denisdefreyne.com
Nikola
getnikola.comSide by side
| Figure | Nanoc | Nikola |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Static site generators | 8.7 (#6) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Deployment | Nanoc integrates with various deployment mechanisms and provides a nanoc deploy command, with examples for Git, rsync, GitHub Pages, Bitbucket, GitLab Pages and Netlify. | Nikola sites can be hosted on any web server that serves HTML files, and the handbook lists GitHub Pages deployment support. |
| Extensibility | Nanoc lets users write custom filters and helpers. | Users can add features with Python plugins and create themes with Mako or Jinja2. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | Nanoc is licensed under the MIT license. | Nikola is released under the MIT license, while some bundled or required components use other licenses. |
| Runtime | Nanoc requires Ruby 3.1 or higher and the CRuby implementation for guaranteed support. | Nikola is written in Python 3 and the homepage lists Python 3.8 or later. |
| What it does | Nanoc is a flexible static-site generator that transforms content such as Markdown or AsciiDoc into HTML. | Nikola is a static website and blog generator that turns written content into a folder of HTML files for upload to a server. |
Plans
In their own words
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.
Nikola
Nikola is a static site and blog generator that turns written content into HTML files and assets for a web server. It can build blogs, company and personal sites, software project sites, and book sites. Built-in inputs include reStructuredText, Markdown, IPython notebooks, and HTML, with plugins available for additional formats. Blog components include comments, tags, categories, archives, and RSS/Atom feeds; image galleries and code listings are also included. Nikola supports almost 40 languages out of the box, including posts in multiple languages. Sites can be hosted on any web server that serves HTML files, and the handbook lists GitHub Pages deployment. The software is written in Python 3, with Python 3.8 or later listed on the homepage, and is free under the MIT license. Users can extend it with Python plugins and make themes using Mako or Jinja2. Incremental builds use doit. Because generated sites do not run code on the server, they cannot process form input except for comments. Indexed plugins and themes are not officially supported.