Side by side
Cobalt vs Nitro
Both stand on static site generators. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan LinuxMacWindows
Cobalt provides a focused Rust-based workflow for creating, previewing, publishing, and building Markdown sites. Its configuration and deployment documentation cover common static-site tasks, with Emacs integration for users who want it.
Visit Cobalt Free plan LinuxSelf-hosted
Choose Nitro if you want a Python-centered toolkit for generating static websites and value its CLI, UI library, and supporting utilities in one suite. Check the Python version required by each tool before adopting it, since the CLI and UI have different minimum versions.
Visit NitroThe facts
| Cobalt | Nitro | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Mac, Windows | Linux, Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Free or on request |
| Plans published | None | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | cobalt-org.github.io | nitro.sh |
| On static site generators | #20 of 35 | #24 of 35 |
Cobalt: what it does well
- Free static-site generator
- Markdown to HTML workflow
- Local preview server with file watching
- Liquid templates for layouts
- Deploys to GitHub or GitLab Pages
What to know first
- Requires command-line workflow
- Content source is Markdown
- Generated sites are static HTML
- No organization or headquarters identified
Nitro: what it does well
- Free access to all Nitro packages, with no paid tiers.
- CLI includes live reload and incremental builds.
- UI supports FastAPI, Django, Flask, and standalone scripts.
- Static output can be uploaded to several hosting services or a user's server.
- Packages use BSD 3-Clause or MIT licenses.
What to know first
- Nitro CLI requires Python 3.9 or later.
- Tools in the suite can have different Python version requirements.