Hexo is a fast, simple, and powerful static site generator built with Node.js. It allows you to create a blog or website with ease by converting markdown files into static HTML files. Hexo provides a customizable and flexible platform for content creation, supporting themes, plugins, and various configurations to tailor your site to your needs. With its built-in server, you can preview your site locally before deployment.
Nextra is a static site generator built on top of Next.js, providing a simple and efficient way to create static websites with dynamic capabilities. It leverages the power of Next.js for server-side rendering and routing while offering additional features like content management, theming, and customization through MDX (Markdown + JSX). Nextra simplifies the process of building and deploying static sites by combining the flexibility of Next.js with the simplicity of Markdown for content creation.
Hexo is a popular static site generator that has been around for a longer time and has a larger community than Nextra. It has a significant number of users and a well-established ecosystem of themes and plugins. Nextra is a relatively newer package with a smaller user base.
Ease of Use
Hexo provides a more extensive feature set and configuration options, which can make it more complex to set up and get started with. Nextra, on the other hand, aims to simplify the process and provides a more opinionated and streamlined approach to building documentation sites with Next.js.
Scalability
Both Hexo and Nextra are scalable and can handle large documentation sites. However, Hexo is primarily designed for static site generation and excels in performance and scalability for static content. Nextra leverages Next.js, which is a server-side rendering framework, and can offer more dynamic functionalities, such as server-side rendering of components and incremental static generation.
Customization
Hexo provides a high degree of flexibility and customization options through its plugin ecosystem and extensive configuration. It supports various themes, plugins, and templates. Nextra, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and convention over configuration. It provides a predefined structure and functionality specifically tailored for documentation sites, which can limit the customization options compared to Hexo.
Developer Experience
Both Hexo and Nextra have good developer experiences, but they differ in their approach. Hexo has a command-line interface (CLI) that allows for easy content creation, deployment, and managing the site. Nextra integrates with Next.js, leveraging its developer-friendly features, such as hot module replacement, fast refresh, and a wide range of Next.js plugins and tools.
Community Support
Hexo has a larger and more established community compared to Nextra. This means there are more resources, documentation, and community-driven plugins and themes available for Hexo. Nextra, being a newer package, has a smaller community, but it is growing and has an active support channel for users.
