Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sanity.io VS Hexo

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

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.

Hexo logo Hexo

A fast, simple & powerful blog framework, powered by Node.js
  • 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.

  • Hexo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14

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

Hexo

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

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.

Hexo features and specs

  • Speed
    Hexo is a static site generator, meaning it can generate and serve content rapidly compared to traditional CMS (Content Management Systems). This results in faster page load times and better performance.
  • Markdown Support
    Hexo uses Markdown for content creation, making it simple for users to write and format text easily. Markdown is widely used and allows for a clean separation of content and formatting.
  • Customization
    Hexo provides a high degree of customization through its robust plugin system and theme capabilities. Users can easily extend functionality and change the look and feel of their site.
  • SEO Friendly
    Hexo generates clean, static HTML files which are easily indexable by search engines. This makes it an SEO-friendly solution for creating websites and blogs.
  • Open Source
    Hexo is an open-source project, which means it's free to use, and you can contribute to the project or modify the source code to suit your needs.
  • Deployment Flexibility
    Hexo supports a variety of deployment methods including GitHub Pages, Heroku, Netlify, and others, making it easy to publish your site.

Possible disadvantages of Hexo

  • Learning Curve
    While Markdown is easy to use, the overall setup of Hexo and understanding its configuration files can be challenging for beginners, especially those unfamiliar with static site generators.
  • Dependency on Node.js
    Hexo relies on Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager), so you need to have these installed on your machine. This dependency can be a barrier for people not familiar with JavaScript or the Node.js ecosystem.
  • Content Management
    Unlike traditional CMS platforms like WordPress, Hexo does not provide a built-in content management interface. All content is managed through files, which can be less convenient for non-technical users.
  • Build Times on Large Sites
    For very large websites with lots of pages and posts, the build times in Hexo can become lengthy as all files need to be regenerated each time a change is made.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    While Hexo has a decent number of plugins and themes, its ecosystem is not as vast as some other static site generators or CMS platforms like Jekyll or WordPress. This could limit your options for extending your site.
  • Version Compatibility
    Updates to Hexo or its plugins can sometimes lead to compatibility issues, requiring users to spend time debugging and resolving conflicts, which can be frustrating.

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

Hexo videos

Tsunami by Hexo One Hitter Weed Review

More videos:

  • Review - Hexo Corp. Cannabis Original Stash OS.220 1 Ounce review Indica Blend
  • Review - HEXO Corp. - HEXO Stock Chart Technical Analysis for 06-16-2020

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sanity.io and Hexo)
CMS
72 72%
28% 28
Blogging
57 57%
43% 43
Blogging Platform
60 60%
40% 40
Headless CMS
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Sanity.io and Hexo

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

Hexo Reviews

We have no reviews of Hexo yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sanity.io should be more popular than Hexo. It has been mentiond 56 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.

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 / 9 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

Hexo mentions (21)

  • Crosspost! Publishing to Dev.to From My Personal Blog
    My website is a static site built with Hexo and served through GitHub Pages. Hexo's documentation isn't the best, but with a little digging, I found that, in the years since I last used it, they've provided a pretty robust first-party plugin for generating RSS and ATOM feeds. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: Looking for lightweight personal blogging platform
    There's also hexo [1]. I saw that on Matt Klein's website [2] and the theme looked pretty clean. [1] https://hexo.io [2] https://mattklein123.dev/2020/03/08/2020-03-07-new-website/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Hexo, WebFinger and better discoverability
    In my case, the latter is not possible because this blog is a static site, generated via Hexo and hosted on GitHub. It simply lacks a modifiable active server component. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Nuxt 3 - showcase your sites
    Previously I've used Nuxt2 and even sooner - hexo.io. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Building a static blog using Jekyll & Strapi
    To make their creation easier, numerous open-source static websites generators are available: Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby, Hexo, etc. Most of the time, the content is managed through static (ideally Markdown) files or a Content API. Then, the generator requests the content, injects it in templates defined by the developer and generates a bunch of HTML files. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

GatsbyJS - Blazing-fast static site generator for React