Jekyll

Static site generator that transforms plain text into static websites and blogs. Markdown, Liquid, HTML, and CSS go in, static sites come out: no database, comment moderation, or runtime updates to manage.

Powers GitHub Pages, giving it broad adoption across open-source projects, documentation, and personal blogs. As one of the earliest static site generators, it established patterns that Hexo, Eleventy, and others later adopted. Differentiates with Ruby and Liquid templating, blog-first design where permalinks, categories, pages, and posts are built-in, and native integration with GitHub hosting.

Key features:

• Markdown and Liquid templating for content and layouts
• Built-in blog support with permalinks, categories, pagination, and custom layouts
• Themes and plugins for customization
• One-command local server with live reload
• Native deployment to GitHub Pages and other static hosts

Widely used for technical blogs, documentation sites, portfolio pages, and project websites. Developers get a simple workflow: create a site, add content in Markdown, run jekyll serve for local preview, push to GitHub for free hosting. Migration tools support importing from WordPress, Drupal, and other CMS platforms.