Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hugo VS Sanity.io

Compare Hugo VS Sanity.io and see what are their differences

Hugo logo Hugo

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

Sanity.io logo Sanity.io

Sanity.io a platform for structured content that comes with an open-source editor that you can customize with React.js.
  • Hugo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Sanity.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-23

Sanity treats your content as structured data and makes it available through a simple and powerful API. Content can be created and edited in our collaborative editor, called the Sanity Studio, which is a fully customizable, client-side web application. You can run the studio on your laptop, host it with us on Sanity.io, or deploy it on your own web server.

Hugo

Website
gohugo.io
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Sanity.io

Website
sanity.io
$ Details
freemium
Platforms
JavaScript Cross Platform PHP REST API GraphQL API GROQ Generic HTTP API Go
Release Date
2017 November
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Even Westvang
Employees
10 - 19

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.

Sanity.io features and specs

  • Real-time Collaboration
    Sanity.io supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same content simultaneously without conflict, which is ideal for teams.
  • Customizable Content Models
    It offers high flexibility with its schema definitions, enabling users to create complex content structures tailored to specific needs.
  • Headless CMS
    As a headless CMS, Sanity.io decouples the backend from the frontend, allowing developers to use any framework or technology stack to present content.
  • Live Preview
    Sanity.io provides a live preview feature, enabling content editors to see changes in real-time before publishing them.
  • Scalable Infrastructure
    Powered by a scalable and performant backend, it can handle high traffic and large amounts of content, suitable for enterprises.
  • Extensible with Plugins
    The platform supports plugins, which means you can extend its capabilities with community or custom-built plugins.

Possible disadvantages of Sanity.io

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its flexible and powerful schema configuration, new users may find it challenging to get started without proper documentation or guidance.
  • Cost
    While it offers a free tier, the costs can escalate for larger projects or enterprises requiring more sophisticated features and higher limits.
  • Complex Setup
    The initial setup can be complex, especially for non-technical users, as it involves configuring schemas, setting up the development environment, and understanding APIs.
  • Limited Out-of-the-box Features
    Compared to some traditional CMS platforms, Sanity.io offers fewer out-of-the-box features which may require additional customization or development effort.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Being an entirely cloud-based solution, it requires a stable internet connection for content management, which could be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.

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.

Hugo videos

Hugo - Movie Review by Chris Stuckmann

More videos:

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

Sanity.io videos

Build a Portfolio Site with Sanity.io and Gatsby — Learn With Jason

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to deploy a transcription microservice for Sanity.io on Zeit’s now

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hugo and Sanity.io)
Blogging
84 84%
16% 16
CMS
65 65%
35% 35
Static Site Generators
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging Platform
77 77%
23% 23

User comments

Share your experience with using Hugo and Sanity.io. 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 Sanity.io

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

Sanity.io Reviews

21 Headless CMS Platforms That You Should Check Out
We have listed 21 headless CMS platforms with their pros and cons. However, it can be said that Strapi, Ghost, Sanity, Graph CMS are among the best headless CMS platforms that you can consider using. These platforms have higher G2 ratings and are easy to use.
Source: popupsmart.com
Best Headless CMS in 2022
Sanity is one of the best headless CMS on the market, which proves by using it such companies as Nike, Figma, National Geographic, and others. Sanity is very flexible in terms of development.
Source: flatlogic.com
Best Node.js CMS platforms for 2022
Sanity can be used for much more than conventional web experiences. Sanity finds its applications in everything from portfolio and company websites to ecommerce applications.
34 Headless CMS That Should Be On Your Radar
Launched in 2015, Sanity is an open source headless CMS that was developed in Oslo, Norway. Built on JavaScript and React.js, Sanity features a WYSIWYG rich text editor which allows you to embed editable data in running text and defer markup to render time. It also comes with a Sweet Query API that enables you to cache multiple queries on a single request.
Source: www.cmswire.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hugo should be more popular than Sanity.io. 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 / 10 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 / 17 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 / 18 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 / 25 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
View more

Sanity.io mentions (56)

  • Build a Modern Blog with Next.js 14 & Sanity: A Step-by-Step Guide
    A blog without a CMS can lead to endless frustration and wasted time. Sanity.io simplifies the entire process, allowing you to focus on your content. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • A Deep Dive into Sanity's Visual Editing and Presentation Tool: The developer view
    Hey there! Our colleagues over at Sanity.io, who are always at the forefront of structured content, have just rolled out two super cool features: Visual Editing and the Presentation tool. They unveiled these at their online shindig on November 17th, 2023, and let me tell you, it's got developers all over the world talking! - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Odd server-client side issue (fetch and data transfer to client)
    I am fetching data from sanity.io (an array), the load function in my +page.ts file looks like this:. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Lets code together - Looking for coding buddies
    Tools Im comfortable with: next, tailwinds, zustand/zod/redux, shadcn, sanity.io, framer motion, typescript & more. Source: over 1 year ago
  • How to add user auth with Clerk to Nextjs (App Directory) and store it in Embedded Sanity CMS
    Go to sanity.io sign up for an account. Sanity gives instructions on how to create the studio however since we are embedding the studio on a Nextjs project we can just ignore them and navigate to https://www.[sanity.io/manage](http://sanity.io/manage). If Sanity created a project for you click on it and copy the project ID, if they didn’t you can click on Create a new project on the top and then copy the project... - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hugo and Sanity.io, you can also consider the following products

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

Contentful - You don't need another CMS. You need a better way to manage content — unified, structured, and ready to deploy to any digital channel.

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.

Strapi - Manage any content. Anywhere. The leading open-source headless CMS. 100% JavaScript / TypeScript and fully customizable.

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.

Prismic - prismic.io is a web software you can use to manage content in any kind of website or app. API-driven.