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Jekyll vs Hexo
Compare Jekyll and Hexo to find the best tool for your needs.
Jekyll
A simple, blog-aware static site generator perfect for personal, project, or organization sites.
See all detailsVS
Hexo
A fast, simple & powerful blog framework powered by Node.js, popular in the developer community.
See all detailsQuick overview
Pricing
Free (open source)
Free (open source)
Pros & Cons
Jekyll
Pros
- Fast and secure static sites
- GitHub Pages integration
- Simple to use for developers
- Great for blogs and documentation
Cons
- Requires Ruby knowledge for customization
- Not suitable for dynamic content
- No visual editor for non-technical users
- Build time increases with site size
Hexo
Pros
- Blazing fast generation
- Markdown support
- One-command deployment
- Extensive plugin system
Cons
- Less active community than some alternatives
- Documentation can be incomplete
- Limited themes for non-technical blogs
- Some plugins aren't maintained
Features comparison
| Feature | Jekyll | Hexo |
|---|---|---|
| Core Features | ||
| SEO | Partial Basic features built-in, but requires 'jekyll-seo-tag' plugin for full functionality | Via plugin Available through hexo-seo plugin or custom configuration |
| Sitemap | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-sitemap' plugin | Via plugin Available through hexo-generator-sitemap |
| RSS Feed | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-feed' plugin | Via plugin Available through hexo-generator-feed |
| Theming system | Yes Built-in theming system with many available themes | Yes Robust theming system with many available themes |
| Plugin system | Yes Rich plugin system with many extensions available | Yes Extensive plugin ecosystem with many available plugins |
| Content Management | ||
| Emoji | Via plugin Requires 'jemoji' plugin | Via plugin Support through hexo-filter-github-emojis or similar plugins |
| Image optimization | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-picture-tag', 'jekyll-responsive-image', or manual integration | Via plugin Available through hexo-filter-responsive-images or similar plugins |
| Taxonomies | Partial Native support for categories and tags, but limited for custom taxonomies without plugins | Partial Built-in support for categories and tags; custom taxonomies require additional configuration |
| Pagination | Via plugin Native in older versions, but requires 'jekyll-paginate' or 'jekyll-paginate-v2' for recent versions | Yes Built-in pagination for post listings |
| Table of contents | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-toc' plugin or using kramdown with toc option | Yes Built-in table of contents generation |
| Comments | Via integration Integration with third-party services like Disqus, Utterances, or staticman | Yes Built-in support for Disqus; other systems supported via themes |
| Integrations | ||
| Social media integration | Partial Basic support via Liquid templates, but requires customization for advanced integration | Via theme Most themes include social media integration options |
| Analytics | Via integration Easily integrable via snippets in Liquid templates | Via integration Most themes support analytics integration |
| Newsletter | Via integration Requires third-party services integration like Hakanai, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, etc. | Via integration Can be added through theme customization |
| Search | Via plugin Options include 'jekyll-algolia', 'simple-jekyll-search', or 'jekyll-lunr-js-search' | Via plugin Options include hexo-generator-search or Algolia integration |
| Headless CMS integration | Via integration Compatible with Forestry, Netlify CMS, CloudCannon, Contentful via custom configuration | Via plugin Integration possible with various headless CMS platforms |
| Advanced Features | ||
| Multilingual | Limited Basic support via collections or plugins like 'jekyll-polyglot' or 'jekyll-multiple-languages-plugin' | Yes Built-in i18n support |
| AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-amp-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration | Via plugin Can be implemented with hexo-generator-amp |
| PWA (Progressive Web App) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-pwa-plugin' or custom configuration | Via plugin Available through hexo-pwa or similar solutions |
| Specialized Content | ||
| PlantUML | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-plantuml' or 'jekyll-diagrams' plugin | Via plugin Can be added with hexo-filter-plantuml or similar plugins |
| Mermaid | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-mermaid' plugin or custom JavaScript integration | Via plugin Available through hexo-filter-mermaid-diagrams or similar plugins |
| KaTeX (math) | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-katex' plugin or custom JavaScript integration | Via plugin Available through hexo-renderer-markdown-it-katex or similar plugins |
| GitHub Gists integration | Via plugin Requires 'jekyll-gist' plugin | Via plugin Can be implemented through custom tags or plugins |