# Alternatives to Publii

Desktop GUI static-site CMS.

Publii ranks #5 of 8 in Static site generators, with an Alt Score of 68. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free from Free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 8 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/publii/
Category: Static site generators

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Bloggers, writers, and small businesses who want a full-featured blog or marketing site without running a server, database, or ongoing CMS subscription — including non-technical users comfortable with a desktop app.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source desktop application (Windows, macOS, Linux) that builds fast, static HTML sites with no database to hack or maintain. It includes a visual post editor, customizable themes, image galleries, SEO tools (sitemaps, structured data), and privacy features like cookie-consent management with no built-in tracking. One-click deployment pushes the generated site to hosts such as GitHub Pages, Netlify, GitLab Pages, Amazon S3, or any server via FTP/SFTP.
- **How it works**: You write and edit posts/pages locally in the desktop app, which stores your content and generates the static site on your machine. When ready, you publish with one click, and Publii syncs the built files to your configured hosting destination.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Eleventy](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/eleventy.md) | 91 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [Gatsby](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/gatsby.md) | 86 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Astro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/astro.md) | 82 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [Jekyll](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/jekyll.md) | 68 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [Zola](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zola.md) | 68 | EUPL-1.2 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [Hugo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hugo.md) | 64 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [Pelican](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pelican.md) | 64 | AGPL-3.0 | ? |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Static site generators checklist | Publii | Eleventy | Gatsby | Astro | Jekyll | Zola |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT | MIT | MIT | MIT | EUPL-1.2 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Build speed | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | Partial | Yes |
| Templating language | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Content collections | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image optimization | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| i18n support | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Plugin ecosystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Markdown / MDX | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Partial hydration / islands | ? | Partial | Partial | Yes | No | ? |
| CMS integrations | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Learning curve | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | Partial | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Publii. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://marketplace.getpublii.com/plugins/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Core app GPL-3.0/free; only optional premium themes/plugins cost money.
  - Quote: “Free”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GetPublii/Publii/master/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Starts at**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GetPublii/Publii/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Publii is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux and can be downloaded from our website:”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GetPublii/Publii/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Desktop GUI app (Electron).
  - Quote: “Publii is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux and can be downloaded from our website:”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/GetPublii/Publii/releases/tag/v.0.47.7-build-17468> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Released 2026-07-02.
  - Quote: “v.0.47.7 (build 17468)”
- **Build speed**: Yes — <https://getpublii.com/seo-performance/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Just fast, pre-built pages that are easy to crawl, load and interpret.”
- **Templating language**: Yes — <https://getpublii.com/dev/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Publii renders its themes using Handlebars, which offers great flexibility and opportunities to create diverse pages on your website.”
- **Image optimization**: Yes — <https://getpublii.com/seo-performance/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Publii can automatically convert JPG and PNG files to WebP, helping reduce file size while preserving visual quality.”
- **i18n support**: Partial — <https://getpublii.com/dev/translations-api/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: UI/theme string translation; no explicit multi-locale site routing found.
  - Quote: “The easiest option is to use the Language File Editor Plugin, which allows you to edit theme language files directly from the Publii interface.”
- **Plugin ecosystem**: Yes — <https://marketplace.getpublii.com/plugins/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Expand your site with your favorite tools and apps.”
- **Markdown / MDX**: Partial — <https://getpublii.com/content-writing/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Markdown editor (one of three); no MDX.
  - Quote: “Use the Markdown editor when you want a fast, keyboard-friendly writing workflow. It is ideal for technical posts, documentation, tutorials and writers who prefer plain text with lightweight formattin”
- **CMS integrations**: Partial — <https://getpublii.com/docs/import-wordpress-into-static-html-site.html> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Publii is itself a desktop CMS; one-way WordPress import only.
  - Quote: “The new WP Import tool allows users to import post, post images, author and tag or category data from their WordPress site into Publii.”
- **Learning curve**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GetPublii/Publii/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Publii is a desktop-based CMS for Windows, Mac and Linux that makes creating static websites fast and hassle-free, even for beginners.”

---
Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/