Jigsaw

What Jigsaw is

Jigsaw is a static-site framework for developers who want to build sites with Laravel Blade and familiar web application tooling. It supports content-driven pages written in Markdown and rendered with Blade layouts. Collections group related pages and can be used for menus, pagination, categories, and tags; the documentation also includes remote collections. Jigsaw can compile CSS and JavaScript with Vite, and provides a local preview server. Node.js and NPM are optional when using Vite for asset compilation.

A Jigsaw build produces static HTML and JavaScript, and the output directory can be configured. Built-in starter templates cover blogs and open source documentation sites, and third-party templates are supported. The documentation describes deployment to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Amazon S3, Kinsta Application Hosting, or an existing server. Installation requires PHP 8.2 or later and Composer. The project repository identifies the license as MIT. Jigsaw is free, listed as free, and installed via Composer. Its site links to Tighten for contact and GitHub for issues and feature requests.

Who it suits

Jigsaw suits developers building static sites who want Laravel Blade templates and familiar application tooling. It can also fit projects that need Markdown content, grouped page collections, or starter templates for blogs and documentation.

Getting started

1. Open the Jigsaw website.
2. Install PHP 8.2 or later and Composer.
3. Install Jigsaw through Composer.
4. Choose a built-in blog or documentation starter template, or use a third-party template.
5. Optionally install Node.js and NPM for Vite asset compilation.
6. Preview locally, then deploy to a supported destination or an existing server.

Verdict

Choose Jigsaw if you want a free static-site framework built around Laravel Blade, Markdown, and collections. It is a less direct fit if your environment cannot meet its PHP and Composer requirements or you need a hosted platform rather than self-hosting.