Jekyll vs Quartz
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A Ruby tool that turns Markdown and templates into a static website, with blog support.
Open source · MIT
Publishes Markdown notes, such as an Obsidian vault, as a free website.
The short answer
Choose Jekyll if you need…
- Developers who want a blog or simple website built from plain text files
- People comfortable with Ruby tooling and the command line
- Writers who prefer Markdown and want static HTML output
- Projects that need hosting without a database or server-side code
Choose Quartz if you need…
- People who keep notes in Markdown, especially Obsidian users, who want to publish them online
- Anyone wanting a free-hosted personal notes or digital garden site
- Developers comfortable with TypeScript who want to customize a static site
Side-by-side
| Jekyll | Quartz | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dev tool | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 51.7k | 13.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 24 days ago | 5 days ago |
What each one is
Jekyll
Jekyll is a static site generator written in Ruby. You write content in files such as Markdown, combine it with templates, and it builds a folder of plain HTML pages that can be hosted anywhere. The description calls it blog-aware, and its topics include blog engine and Liquid templating. The README was not included in full, so details beyond the metadata are limited.
Quartz
Quartz is a set of tools that turns Markdown notes into a website, often used to publish a digital garden (a personal collection of linked notes). The project describes itself as a fast, batteries-included static-site generator. The README provided is truncated, so details of setup and features are limited here.
Best for
Jekyll
- Developers who want a blog or simple website built from plain text files
- People comfortable with Ruby tooling and the command line
- Writers who prefer Markdown and want static HTML output
- Projects that need hosting without a database or server-side code
Quartz
- People who keep notes in Markdown, especially Obsidian users, who want to publish them online
- Anyone wanting a free-hosted personal notes or digital garden site
- Developers comfortable with TypeScript who want to customize a static site
Strengths
Jekyll
- Widely used open-source project with a large community (about 51,700 stars)
- Released under the permissive MIT license
- Produces plain static files that are simple to host and hard to break
Quartz
- Written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license, which permits reuse
- Has a large community, with about 13,000 GitHub stars and a Discord server
- Documentation is available at a dedicated site
Not ideal for
Jekyll
- Non-technical users who need a point-and-click site builder, since setup requires Ruby and the command line
- Sites that need dynamic features like user accounts or live database queries, since output is static files
- Teams that want a hosted service rather than running a build tool themselves
Quartz
- Non-technical users who need a point-and-click website builder, since the README points to a documentation site rather than a hosted editor
- People who need a dynamic site with user accounts or server-side logic, because this is a static-site generator
Trade-offs
Jekyll
- Requires a Ruby environment, which adds setup work for non-developers
- README content was truncated, so detailed feature coverage could not be verified here
Quartz
- The provided README is truncated, so the full feature list and setup steps could not be verified here
- The latest release listed has no binaries, so installation goes through the source or the docs
- Static output means no built-in dynamic features
Getting started
Jekyll
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jekyll/jekyllQuartz
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jackyzha0/quartzFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Jekyll and Quartz?
Jekyll: A Ruby tool that turns Markdown and templates into a static website, with blog support. Quartz: Publishes Markdown notes, such as an Obsidian vault, as a free website. Jekyll suits developers who want a blog or simple website built from plain text files, while Quartz suits people who keep notes in markdown, especially obsidian users, who want to publish them online.
Are Jekyll and Quartz free?
Jekyll: Free and open source. Quartz: Free and open source.
Is Jekyll or Quartz more popular?
Jekyll has more GitHub stars (51.7k) than Quartz (13.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Jekyll and Quartz?
Other options people compare them with include Hexo, Gatsby, VuePress, Eleventy, Mitosis.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.