Software Alternatives & Startups

Eleventy VS Medium

Compare Eleventy VS Medium and see what are their differences

Eleventy logo Eleventy

Simpler static site generator.

Medium logo Medium

Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.
  • Eleventy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-01
  • Medium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08

Eleventy features and specs

  • Simple and Lightweight
    Eleventy is known for its simplicity and minimal configuration requirements, making it easy for developers to get started without needing to understand complex frameworks.
  • Flexibility
    Eleventy allows developers to choose their own templating languages and workflows, offering flexibility in how content is structured and rendered.
  • Fast Build Times
    Eleventy is optimized for speed, providing fast build times which are beneficial for development and deploying static sites quickly.
  • No JavaScript Frameworks
    Eleventy does not require any specific JavaScript frameworks, which allows it to remain lightweight and gives developers the freedom to incorporate any library or framework of their choice.
  • Community Support
    Despite being a relatively new tool, Eleventy has a growing community and plenty of resources available for developers, from plugins to quick-start themes.

Possible disadvantages of Eleventy

  • Limited Built-in Features
    Eleventy’s simplicity means it lacks some built-in features available in other static site generators, which may require additional configuration or third-party tools.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Projects
    While easy to start, larger or more complex projects might require developers to have a deeper understanding of custom configurations, possibly resulting in a steeper learning curve.
  • No Native CMS
    Eleventy doesn’t come with a built-in content management system, so developers need to integrate with third-party services for dynamic content management.
  • Lack of Official GUI
    There is no official graphical user interface to manage or preview content, which might be a drawback for users who prefer visual editing environments.
  • Frequent Updates
    As an actively developed tool, Eleventy undergoes frequent updates, which can sometimes introduce breaking changes or necessitate regular maintenance to keep projects compatible.

Medium features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Medium offers an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for anyone to start writing and publishing content without any technical knowledge.
  • Built-in Audience
    The platform has a large and active user base, so new content has the potential to reach a wide audience quickly.
  • Publishing Tools
    Medium provides versatile publishing tools that support text, images, and various media formats, which helps in creating rich and engaging content.
  • SEO Benefits
    Articles posted on Medium tend to rank well in search engine results, thanks to the platform's high domain authority.
  • Community and Interaction
    Medium encourages reader engagement through comments, claps, and highlights, fostering a sense of community among writers and readers.

Possible disadvantages of Medium

  • Monetization
    While Medium has a Partner Program, it may not be as lucrative as other methods of monetization available on independent blogging platforms.
  • Control and Customization
    Medium offers limited customization options compared to dedicated blog platforms like WordPress, restricting how you can brand and personalize your blog.
  • Content Ownership
    By publishing on Medium, you agree to their terms and conditions, which may include giving up some control over how your content is used and distributed.
  • Paywall Issues
    Some articles are placed behind a paywall, which might limit the reach of your content if you want it to be freely accessible to everyone.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying solely on Medium means that any changes to the platform's policies or algorithms can directly impact your reach and engagement.

Analysis of Eleventy

Overall verdict

  • Eleventy is an excellent choice for developers looking for a lightweight, customizable static site generator. It is particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized projects where performance and simplicity are key priorities.

Why this product is good

  • Eleventy, or 11ty, is a highly flexible static site generator that enables developers to create fast and efficient websites with minimal configuration. It is known for its simplicity, supporting a wide range of templating languages, including Markdown, Liquid, Nunjucks, and more. Eleventy also emphasizes a 'zero build step' approach, providing a clean and straightforward development experience without additional frameworks or complex dependencies.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a no-frills static site generator.
  • Projects requiring support for multiple templating languages.
  • Sites where performance and speed are critical.
  • Bloggers and content creators who prefer writing in Markdown.
  • Developers who appreciate a minimalistic and flexible toolchain.

Analysis of Medium

Overall verdict

  • Medium can be considered a good platform for those who enjoy a wide array of content and appreciate quality writing on diverse subjects. However, the value of Medium depends on individual preferences and whether the topics and writing styles align with what the reader is looking for.

Why this product is good

  • Medium offers a diverse range of articles from both professional and amateur writers, providing readers with numerous perspectives on various topics. Its clean user interface and ease of use make it an appealing platform for both writers and readers. The platform also supports monetization for writers, allowing them to earn from their content.

Recommended for

    Medium is recommended for avid readers seeking a variety of topics ranging from personal development to technology. It's also ideal for writers looking to publish their work to a broad audience and potentially earn revenue through the platform's Partner Program.

Eleventy videos

Meet Eleventy

More videos:

  • Review - Eleventy: Key Features and Getting Started
  • Review - Eleventy | Fall Winter 2021 2022 Women's Fashion Show Review | Milan fashion week 2021

Medium videos

Medium Review - with Tom Vasel

More videos:

  • Review - Starting a blog on Medium.com? Watch this FIRST.
  • Review - The Medium Review
  • Review - The Medium - Before You Buy
  • Review - I recommend: The Medium (Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Eleventy and Medium)
Blogging
4 4%
96% 96
Static Site Generators
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging Platform
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
9 9%
91% 91

User comments

Share your experience with using Eleventy and Medium. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Eleventy and Medium

Eleventy Reviews

20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
For those seeking simplicity, Eleventy and Spatie provide straightforward solutions for creating static sites. Eleventy is highly flexible and doesn’t lock you into a specific framework, while Spatie offers a collection of Laravel packages to extend functionality.
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
The popularity of Eleventy is difficult to measure on the web, since by design, it is transparent and unobtrusive, leaving no signature in the sites it generates. However, anecdotally (and observed within the Netlify build infrastructure) we are seeing Eleventy gain momentum particularly among parts of the web development community interested in performance and retaining...
Source: www.netlify.com

Medium Reviews

19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Medium focuses on thoughtful content and community engagement. It offers a user-friendly interface, a large readership base, and various features for writers and readers.
Source: www.pixpa.com
25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Medium is an online platform that was created in 2012 by Evan Williams. It is a place for people to share their thoughts and ideas on various topics. Medium has about 100 million monthly visitors, which makes it one of the most popular platforms for publishing articles.
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
From thе simplicity of Ghost to thе vеrsatility of Substack, thеrе’s a homе for еvеryonе seeking great Medium alternatives. Thеsе altеrnativеs offеr a world of possibilitiеs for rеadеrs and authors alikе. Whеthеr you’rе in sеarch of a uniquе platform to sharе your thoughts or want to read frеsh contеnt, thеsе platforms havе somеthing spеcial to offеr. All in all, we...
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2021 (Compared)
Medium works much like a social networking site where you can create an account and start publishing your articles. After you sign up, you’ll have a profile address like this: https://medium.com/@yourname. But you cannot use your own domain.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Medium seems to be a lot more popular than Eleventy. While we know about 3127 links to Medium, we've tracked only 40 mentions of Eleventy. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Eleventy mentions (40)

  • Xanadu Was Waiting for Agents
    Interesting. This and the other posts I've seen about Delta seems to exist in that liminal space, were it's difficult to tell if the author has had a brilliant insight, that they struggle to convey to anyone who's not yet had the same insight; or if they've simply gone slightly mad. It's a similar sense I get with reading Nelson (after being able to think about his ideas for a while, I'm quite certain it was... - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • Introducing Ⓜ️ Meddler! A Medium Export Converter
    So, I created Ⓜ️ Meddler, a command-line tool and website that will take the .ZIP of your export that Medium gives you and turn it into clean, portable Markdown formats for Jekyll, Hugo, Eleventy, or Astro.js. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • ReallySimpleDocs: A minimal docs template built with Eleventy and Tailwind
    It's pretty much as advertised: a really simple documentation template built with 11ty [1] and Tailwind. I've been releasing a few projects in the past year: Basecoat [2], Pages CMS [3], and lately /dev/push [4]. Each one of them needed its own documentation. Sure, I could have used stuff like Mintlify or Docusaurus. But I really wanted something fast, modern, simple, and good-looking. And if possible: no React.... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • #5 - 'The Power of [Separation] Compels You!'
    Because I use 11ty as my static site generator (SSG) with Nunjucks for templating, using a data file that holds an array of all the credit objects seemed like the way to go. At build time, when the SSG creates the files to be rendered by the browser, a for-loop in the Nunjucks template for the page could simply iterate over the array, injecting the data into the HTML build artifact, allowing 11ty to then do all... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Making Eleventy Data Traceable with TSX and Zod
    Eleventy is a fast and versatile static site generator (SSG). Out of the box, it is most likely to appeal to developers used to earlier Python- or Ruby-based web frameworks and SSGs (e.g. Django, Flask, or Jekyll). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

Medium mentions (3127)

  • Building a CMS with AI Agents: You Don't Write the Code, You Audit the Decisions
    I wrote a longer, feature-by-feature walkthrough of the stack on Medium if you want the deep dive on how it all wires together. Https://medium.com/@aak540114/give-your-ai-agents-a-kanban-board-not-the-keys-to-production-81ffd19370f1. - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • Ask HN: Who is using MCP in production?
    FWIW, it appears that using the gh cli is much more token efficient than MCP so that's a plus. https://medium.com/@ravi.madabhushi/mcp-is-up-to-32-more-expensive-than-cli-heres-why-we-still-use-it-d18765735647. - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • GPT-6 Astra
    That's the ratio the widely published numbers give [1][2]. One does not have to believe the numbers, of course, but those who do believe them are then justified to conclude that there's no moat. Which numbers you believe is of course going to affect whether you think there's a moat or not. [1] https://galileo.ai/blog/llm-model-training-cost [2]... - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • Altair Basic Interpreter Source Code (1975) [pdf]
    Kent Beck called this “test && commit || revert” in 2018, and credits Oddmund Strømme for first coming up with the idea: . - Source: Hacker News / 6 days ago
  • Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (September 2026)
    Https://medium.com/@ashishrathour1102 Looking for backend, infrastructure, platform, distributed-systems, storage-engine, or systems-programming roles. Especially interested in small/high-ownership teams working on runtimes, execution infrastructure, databases, developer infrastructure or reliability. - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Eleventy and Medium, you can also consider the following products

Hugo - Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Jekyll - Jekyll is a simple, blog aware, static site generator.

DEV.to - Where software engineers connect, build their resumes, and grow.

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.