Hugo (software)

Last updated
Hugo
Original author(s) Steve Francia
Developer(s) Bjørn Erik Pedersen
Initial releaseJuly 5, 2013;12 years ago (2013-07-05) [1]
Stable release
0.150.1 / 25 September 2025
Repository
Written in Go
Operating system Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, macOS, Android
Platform x86, x86-64, ARM
Type Static site generator
License Apache License 2.0 [2]
Website https://gohugo.io

Hugo is an open-source static site generator (SSG) written in the Go programming language. It is designed for speed and flexibility, allowing users to build websites quickly by transforming content (typically in Markdown) and templates into static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.

Contents

Hugo is widely used for creating blogs, documentation sites, landing pages, corporate websites, and more. As of September 2025, it boasts over 83,000 stars on GitHub [3] , reflecting its popularity among developers and users.

History

Steve Francia [4] started Hugo in 2013 because he saw the need for a fast, flexible static site generator that could handle modern content management needs. He was inspired by the growing trend of using static websites (sites that are generated ahead of time and don't rely on databases or servers to generate pages on the fly) as a more efficient and scalable alternative to traditional dynamic websites. [5] The project quickly gained traction due to its performance advantages.

Development has been active since the project's inception, with frequent releases overseen by Björn Erik Pedersen (bep), [6] who has served as the lead since version 0.14 in 2015, and contributions from a large community. [7] Since its inception, Hugo has evolved into a mature framework with support for modern web standards. The project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.

Features [8]

Hugo's core strength lies in its performance and extensibility. It produces fully static sites that are easy to host on any web server or CDN. Below is a table summarizing some key features:

FeatureDescription
Speed
  • Builds sites with 10,000+ pages in seconds (<1 ms per page).
  • Written in Go for compiled efficiency.
Templating
Content Management
  • Handles archetypes, markdown render hooks, comments, content adapters, content formats, data sources, page bundles, taxonomies, shortcodes, syntax highlighting, etc.
  • Supported content types include Markdown, HTML, AsciiDoctor, or Org-mode.
Asset Pipelines
  • Built-in processing for images (resize, crop, filters), SASS/SCSS, JavaScript bundling (tree-shaking, minification), and Tailwind CSS integration.
  • Also supports other front-end frameworks, besides Tailwind, like Bootstrap.
Development Server
  • Embedded live-reload server for instant previews during editing.
  • The server watches your project directory for changes and rebuilds your site and refreshes your browser.
Hugo Modules
  • Modular system for sharing themes, content, and assets via Git repositories.
Extensibility
  • Supports archetypes for content scaffolding, menus, cross-references, and integrations with headless or cloud-based CMS like Decap, Strapi or CloudCannon.
  • Has an extensive list of themes created and maintained by the community. [10]
Security & Privacy
  • No server-side execution; static output minimizes vulnerabilities.
  • Includes a security model for safe templating.

Other features include LaTeX/TeX typesetting, KaTeX for math rendering, Obsidian-style callouts, and content adapters for pulling data from remote sources.

References

  1. ↑ "Releases - gohugoio/hugo" . Retrieved 31 December 2020– via GitHub.
  2. ↑ "LICENSE". Github. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  3. ↑ gohugoio/hugo, GoHugo.io, 2025-09-23, retrieved 2025-09-23
  4. ↑ "spf13". spf13. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  5. ↑ "Go Go Hugo blog". spf13. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  6. ↑ "bep.is". bep.is. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  7. ↑ gohugoio. "Contributors to gohugoio/hugo". GitHub. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  8. ↑ "Features". gohugo.io. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  9. ↑ "Introduction to templating". gohugo.io. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  10. ↑ "Hugo Themes". themes.gohugo.io. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
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