Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hugo VS Docusaurus

Compare Hugo VS Docusaurus and see what are their differences

Hugo logo Hugo

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

Docusaurus logo Docusaurus

Easy to maintain open source documentation websites
  • Hugo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Docusaurus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22

Hugo features and specs

  • Performance
    Hugo is extremely fast, capable of generating websites with thousands of pages in milliseconds, making it one of the fastest static site generators available.
  • Flexible Content Management
    Hugo supports multiple content types, taxonomies, menus, and dynamic API-driven content, offering a high level of flexibility for different site architectures.
  • Ease of Use
    Hugo’s straightforward installation process and simple configuration files make it accessible, even for beginners.
  • Extended Markdown
    It extends standard Markdown with additional shortcodes, which allows embedding rich content like videos, tweets, and more with simple syntax.
  • Large Community and Plugins
    Hugo has a large and active community that develops themes and plugins, providing ample resources and support for developers.
  • Inbuilt Server
    Hugo comes with a built-in server for local development, enabling real-time previews and speeding up the development process.

Possible disadvantages of Hugo

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its simplicity, Hugo’s template language and content rendering system can be complex for beginners to grasp initially.
  • Limited Dynamic Features
    As a static site generator, Hugo is not ideal for websites that require real-time data processing or dynamic content generation without additional tooling and integration.
  • Go-based Templating
    Hugo uses Go-based templating, which might be unfamiliar to developers accustomed to other templating engines such as Liquid, Handlebars, or Mustache.
  • Lack of Built-in CMS
    Unlike some other static site generators, Hugo does not come with its own CMS interface, which can be a downside for users who prefer a graphical content management system.
  • Dependency on Command Line
    Using Hugo effectively requires comfort with command-line interfaces, which can be a barrier to less technical users.

Docusaurus features and specs

  • Easy Setup
    Docusaurus offers an easy and quick setup process, making it accessible for users to get started quickly. It provides a template to kickstart documentation projects efficiently.
  • Customizable
    It is highly customizable with options to add custom themes, plugins, and translations, allowing users to tailor their documentation to specific needs and visual styles.
  • React-Based
    Built on React, it enables developers familiar with React to seamlessly create documentation components and extend functionalities using React's ecosystem.
  • Versioning
    Docusaurus supports documentation versioning, making it easier to maintain and access historical versions of documentation for different releases of a project.
  • Extensive Plugin Ecosystem
    Offers a wide array of plugins to enhance functionalities, such as search capabilities, SEO, and integrations with other tools and services.
  • Good Performance
    Optimized for performance, providing fast load times and a smooth user experience for accessing documentation.
  • Active Community
    Docusaurus has an active and supportive community that contributes plugins, themes, and offers help, making it easier to find solutions to common problems.

Possible disadvantages of Docusaurus

  • Steep Learning Curve for Non-React Developers
    Developers not familiar with React may find it challenging to customize or extend Docusaurus documentation due to the React-based nature of the tool.
  • Limited Out-of-the-Box Features
    While highly customizable, the basic setup can feel limited, and users often need to add plugins and custom code to meet their specific requirements.
  • Dependency Management
    Being React-based, it comes with Node.js and NPM dependencies, which may add some overhead for managing and updating dependencies.
  • Static Site Limitations
    As a static site generator, it may be less suitable for dynamic content that requires frequent real-time updates or complex backend integrations.
  • Complex Configuration
    For projects requiring extensive customization, the configuration can become complex and harder to manage, potentially requiring more effort and expertise.

Analysis of Hugo

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Hugo is considered a good choice for static site generation, particularly for users who value performance and simplicity.

Why this product is good

  • Hugo is a popular static site generator known for its speed, flexibility, and ease of use. It allows developers and content creators to build fast, scalable, and secure websites without relying on a database. Hugo's templating and theming options are powerful, supporting a wide range of use cases from blogs to fully-featured websites. Additionally, it has an active community and extensive documentation, which makes getting started and troubleshooting easier.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need a fast and efficient static site generator.
  • Content creators who prefer markdown-based writing and easy content management.
  • Users who want a highly customizable and extensible platform.
  • Teams that require a tool with robust multilingual support.
  • Individuals or organizations looking to build websites with minimal server-side dependencies.

Analysis of Docusaurus

Overall verdict

  • Docusaurus is generally considered a good choice for creating documentation websites, especially for open source projects. Its structured approach, alongside its powerful customization options, makes it suitable for both small and large scale documentation needs.

Why this product is good

  • Docusaurus is a popular open-source project developed by Facebook for creating, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites with ease. It is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, and rich feature set, including built-in support for versioning, localization, search, and theming. It is built on React, which allows developers to extend and customize their documentation site extensively.

Recommended for

    Docusaurus is recommended for developers and project maintainers who need to create and manage comprehensive documentation for open source projects or internal tools. It is particularly valuable for those who prefer a React-based approach and need features like versioning and localization out of the box.

Hugo videos

Hugo - Movie Review by Chris Stuckmann

More videos:

  • Review - Hugo - A Love Letter to Cinema
  • Review - Hugo Review (funny movie review)

Docusaurus videos

F8 2019: Using Docusaurus to Create Open Source Websites

More videos:

  • Review - Build and deploy Docusaurus
  • Review - Docusaurus - Docs dan Blog Final

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hugo and Docusaurus)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Documentation
0 0%
100% 100
Static Site Generators
100 100%
0% 0
Documentation As A Service & Tools

User comments

Share your experience with using Hugo and Docusaurus. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

Hugo Reviews

Top 10 Next.js Alternatives You Can Try
If you are looking for a powerful static website generator, Hugo is a good alternative to Next.js. You can build multilingual websites much faster and in a simple way that no other platform will offer you. Furthermore, this platform will increase your experience in creating websites with beautiful Markdown syntax and pre-built features like commenting.
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Certainly. Jekyll and Hugo are popular static site generators that don’t rely on React.js. Jekyll uses Ruby, while Hugo is renowned for its speed and simplicity. These options are excellent for projects focusing on content-driven sites without heavy JavaScript frameworks.
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
Perhaps most conveniently described as Jekyll implemented with JavaScript rather than Ruby, Eleventy has now moved beyond that while retaining a clear and simple on-ramp, and only shipping to the browser what you tell it too. As with Jekyll and Hugo, no JavaScript frameworks are auto-baked in.
Source: www.netlify.com
Hugo vs Jekyll: an Epic Battle of Static Site Generator Themes
Hugo does something similar with its menu templates. You can define menu links in your Hugo site config, and even add useful properties that Hugo understands, like weighting. Here’s a definition of the menu above in config.yaml:
Top Static Site Generators For 2019
Hugo is a static site generator which is also very popular which is proven by over 30,000 stars on GitHub right now. Hugo is based on the Go programming language which is great if you have already gained some knowledge of Go. Hugo claims that it is the fastest framework for building websites. In fact Hugo comes with an ultra-fast build process and makes building static...
Source: medium.com

Docusaurus Reviews

Best Gitbook Alternatives You Need to Try in 2023
In conclusion, there are several alternatives to Gitbook that are available out there. Each one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice will depend on your specific needs and project requirements. Consider giving Archbee, Notion, Bookstack, and Docusaurus a try to see which works best for you. Remember, you can choose the right tool to get your...
Source: www.archbee.com
Best 25 Software Documentation Tools 2023
Docusaurus is an open-source documentation tool specifically designed for creating documentation for software projects, with a focus on documentation websites and easy integration with version control systems.
Source: www.uphint.com
19 Best Online Documentation Software & Tools for 2023
Docusaurus is an open-source online documentation tool that is powered by MDX. You can maintain different versions of your documentation so that it is in sync with your project’s stages. You can also translate your docs into a language your end-users prefer by using tools like Git and Crowdin. Furthermore, with Docusaurus, you don’t have to worry about the design and...
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
Built using React, it supports writing content in MDX so that JSX and React components can be embedded into markdown, but also aims to remain easy to learn and use by providing sensible defaults and the ability to override if the developer has need. Recently releasing a major update with Docusaurus 2 beta, many of its principles were inspired by Gatsby but it is more focused...
Source: www.netlify.com
20 Best Web Project Documentation Tools
Save time and focus on your project’s documentation. Simply write docs and blog posts with Markdown and Docusaurus will publish a set of static html files ready to serve.
Source: bashooka.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hugo should be more popular than Docusaurus. It has been mentiond 388 times since March 2021. 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.

Hugo mentions (388)

  • Hacking with mdBook
    A few days back, I wrote a blog post about static site generators, in particular how I decided to migrate my blog from Zola to Hugo. One of my points was to be able to hack my own content before generating the final HTML. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • Why I am Migrating From Zola Back to Hugo
    This post is a summary of my recent decision to go back to Hugo after using Zola. I also report on how LLM assistants with Web access can aid in such decisions, not as an authority but as a research assistant. - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
  • How to Migrate Technical Documentation: Tools, Checklist, and Tips
    Hugo is a fast and flexible static site generator built in Go, known for its speed and large theme ecosystem. It supports markdown, taxonomies, multilingual content, and powerful templating with minimal dependencies. Hugo is highly performant and well-suited for building large-scale documentation sites. It’s ideal for teams seeking speed and customization with minimal runtime requirements. - Source: dev.to / 23 days ago
  • Ask HN: Static Site (not blog) Generator?
    Try Hugo[1]. In depends on a template you choose alone whether Hugo will generate a landing page, a website, a blog, etc. [1] https://gohugo.io. - Source: Hacker News / 29 days ago
  • 🥳 We built the cli of our dreams to send sms ❣️
    The content of the guide lives in a single Markdown file, content/_index.md. The website is built using Hugo. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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Docusaurus mentions (213)

  • Create fast, modern API docs using Docusaurus
    Docusaurus is a powerful static site generator built by Meta and designed specifically for documentation websites. It’s React-based, which means you get a lot of flexibility in how you customize your site, and it comes with features that make API documentation much easier to manage:. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • How we built our docs site
    We looked into a few different providers including GitBook, Docusaurus, Hashnode, Fern and Mintlify. There were various factors in the decision but the TLDR is that while we manage our SDKs with Fern, we chose Mintlify for docs as it had the best writing experience, supported custom React components, and was more affordable for hosting on a custom domain. Both Fern and Mintlify pull from the same single source of... - Source: dev.to / 20 days ago
  • How to Migrate Technical Documentation: Tools, Checklist, and Tips
    Docusaurus is an open-source documentation site generator built by Meta, designed for creating optimized, fast, and customizable websites using React. It supports markdown files, versioning, internationalization (i18n), and integrates well with Git-based workflows. Its React architecture allows for deep customization and dynamic components. Docusaurus is ideal for developer-focused documentation with a need for... - Source: dev.to / 23 days ago
  • Ask HN: Static Site (not blog) Generator?
    I think this is more a question of how you want to create and store your content and templates, like whether they exist as a bunch of Markdown files, database entries, a third-party API, etc. They're typically made to work in some sort of toolchain or ecosystem. For example, if you're working in the React world, Next.js can actually output static HTML pages that work fine without JS... Just use the pages router... - Source: Hacker News / 29 days ago
  • Deploying a static Website with Pulumi
    For this challenge, I've built a simple static website based on Docusaurus for tutorials and blog posts. As I'm not too seasoned with Frontend development, I only made small changes to the template, and added some very simple blog posts and tutorials there. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hugo and Docusaurus, you can also consider the following products

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

GitBook - Modern Publishing, Simply taking your books from ideas to finished, polished books.

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.

Doxygen - Generate documentation from source code

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.

MkDocs - Project documentation with Markdown.