Exploration of Static Site Generator (SSG) Products

Overview

There are numerous products in the Static Site Generator (SSG) category—almost every popular programming language has its own. Here's a list. Based on how they solve problems, SSGs generally fall into three categories:

Server-side template rendering: templates are rendered on the server and sent to the frontend.
Server-side SPA rendering (SSR): single-page applications are rendered on the server and returned as HTML.
Client-side template rendering: templates are rendered directly in the browser.

Each of these approaches has its use cases. Let's look at them one by one:

Server-side Template Rendering

These are usually simple string replacement tools combined with markdown. It's a continuation of older web development models (like JSP, ASP). Many modern tools extend this model with frontend frameworks to add dynamic capabilities and richer visual features—examples include VitePress and VuePress.

Server-side SPA Rendering (SSR)

This approach emerged with the rise of SPAs, primarily to address SEO issues. Early implementations were sluggish and even used headless browsers. Over time, support for server-side rendering in frontend frameworks improved dramatically. Next.js is a prominent example.

Frameworks like Svelte have also entered the scene, making it increasingly feasible to deliver static pages with minimal JS payloads.

Client-side Template Rendering

This is essentially SPA for a specific domain, Docsify is a typical example. However, due to SEO limitations, this approach has become less viable for blogs and documentation sites, especially with the rapid advancement of SSR solutions which clearly outperform it.

Regardless of approach, all SSGs typically expand with supporting tools. Most start with themes and demos to enable quick site creation. Older generations featured numerous fancy templates—back in 2014, I remember spending a lot of time just choosing one. UI enthusiasm was high. The newer generation focuses less on that, offering just a few solid templates for common use cases. The focus has shifted to clean content and cross-platform support (perhaps influenced by the rise of the Bauhaus aesthetic in frontend design).

Plugins have evolved from broad functional add-ons to targeted integrations that improve the user development experience. Instead of large plugin ecosystems, functionality is often delegated to the community, while companies drive traffic to their platform products.

In summary, for blogs, static sites, and documentation, VitePress is closest to my ideal solution. The project team’s insights are truly commendable. Next.js is more comprehensive, with a broad range of plugins.

Non-JS SSGs are increasingly disadvantaged due to JS ecosystem dominance and may eventually disappear.

Future Direction

Next.js and Svelte seem poised to define the future, but for now, VitePress already does the job very well.