Hugo (software)

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.

Hugo
Original author(s)	Steve Francia
Developer(s)	Bjørn Erik Pedersen
Initial release	July 5, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-07-05)[1]
Stable release	0.150.1 / 25 September 2025
Repository	github.com/gohugoio/hugo
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 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:

Feature	Description
Speed	Builds sites with 10,000+ pages in seconds (<1 ms per page). Written in Go for compiled efficiency.
Templating	Hugo uses Go’s text/template and html/template packages.[9] By default, Hugo uses the html/template package when rendering HTML files.
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.