Nikola vs Pelican: What are the differences?

Introduction

In the world of static site generators, two popular options are Nikola and Pelican. While both of them serve the same purpose, there are key differences between the two that set them apart.

1. Content Structure: In Nikola, the content structure is based on reStructuredText or Markdown, allowing users to write in plain text with minimal markup. On the other hand, Pelican uses reStructuredText, Markdown, or AsciiDoc, providing a flexible choice for content creation.

2. Themes and Plugins: Nikola offers a variety of themes and plugins that can be easily integrated into the website. It provides a simple way to customize the appearance and functionality. In contrast, Pelican has a wide range of available plugins and themes, but customization might require more coding and configuration.

3. Multilingual Support: Nikola has built-in support for multilingual websites, allowing users to create content in different languages easily. Pelican, on the other hand, supports multilingual websites as well, but the implementation might require additional configuration and setup.

4. i18n and L10n Support: Nikola has integrated support for internationalization (i18n) and localization (L10n), making it easy to translate the website into different languages. Pelican also supports i18n and L10n, but the implementation might require more manual configuration.

5. Built-in Deployment Options: Nikola offers built-in deployment options, such as deploying to GitHub Pages or deploying via FTP. Users can easily choose the deployment method that suits their needs and deploy the website with minimal effort. Pelican also supports various deployment options, but users might need to configure and set up the deployment themselves.

6. Speed and Performance: Nikola is known for its fast build times, making it ideal for larger websites or projects with complex requirements. Pelican is also fast, but it might not perform as well as Nikola when dealing with larger or more complex projects.

In Summary, Nikola and Pelican both serve as reliable static site generators, but they differ in terms of content structure, themes and plugins, multilingual support, i18n and L10n capabilities, built-in deployment options, and performance.