Jekyll vs VuePress
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
A minimal static site generator for docs and blogs, built on Vue (v1, now in maintenance mode).
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 VuePress if you need…
- Developers with an existing VuePress v1 documentation site who need to keep it running
- Teams already comfortable with Vue who want a simple Markdown-to-site tool
- People maintaining a project that already uses VuePress v1
Side-by-side
| Jekyll | VuePress | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dev tool | Dev tool |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 51.7k | 22.7k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 23 days ago | 2 years 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.
VuePress
VuePress is a tool that turns Markdown files into a static website, using Vue for the page templates. It is aimed mainly at documentation sites and blogs. The README says VuePress v1 is now in maintenance mode, and points to VitePress (officially supported by the Vue team) and VuePress v2+ (community supported) as the newer options.
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
VuePress
- Developers with an existing VuePress v1 documentation site who need to keep it running
- Teams already comfortable with Vue who want a simple Markdown-to-site tool
- People maintaining a project that already uses VuePress v1
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
VuePress
- Minimal and focused on turning Markdown into a static site
- Uses Vue, so customization can be done with familiar Vue concepts
- Released under the permissive MIT license
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
VuePress
- New projects: the README says v1 is in maintenance mode, so VitePress or VuePress v2+ is the better starting point
- Non-developers who want a no-code website builder, since it requires working with Node-based tooling
- Anyone needing active new feature development, since the README does not indicate ongoing feature work on v1
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
VuePress
- v1 is in maintenance mode according to the README, so new features are unlikely
- The README offers little detail on setup for end users; most guidance is for contributors
- Newer alternatives (VitePress, VuePress v2+) are recommended by the project itself
Getting started
Jekyll
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jekyll/jekyllVuePress
Install all dependencies (from a local checkout)
yarn installServe VuePress' own docs with itself
yarn devFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Jekyll and VuePress?
Jekyll: A Ruby tool that turns Markdown and templates into a static website, with blog support. VuePress: A minimal static site generator for docs and blogs, built on Vue (v1, now in maintenance mode). Jekyll suits developers who want a blog or simple website built from plain text files, while VuePress suits developers with an existing vuepress v1 documentation site who need to keep it running.
Are Jekyll and VuePress free?
Jekyll: Free and open source. VuePress: Free and open source.
Is Jekyll or VuePress more popular?
Jekyll has more GitHub stars (51.7k) than VuePress (22.7k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Jekyll and VuePress?
Other options people compare them with include Hexo, Gatsby, Eleventy, Mitosis, VitePress.
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.