Gridsome vs VuePress: What are the differences?

1. VuePress is a static site generator that is specifically designed for building documentation websites. It provides a default theme optimized for documentation and automatically generates a table of contents. On the other hand, Gridsome is a static site generator that emphasizes performance and flexibility. It is built on top of the Vue.js framework and allows you to build any type of website, not just documentation websites.

2. VuePress has a simpler setup process compared to Gridsome. It comes with a pre-configured development server and build pipeline, so you can quickly set up and start writing documentation without any additional configuration. Gridsome, on the other hand, requires more initial setup and configuration to get started.

3. VuePress is focused on single-page applications (SPAs) and does not support creating multiple pages out of the box. It is optimized for creating a single comprehensive documentation site. On the contrary, Gridsome enables you to easily create multi-page websites with dynamically-generated routes. It provides powerful routing capabilities, allowing you to create a more complex website structure with different pages and components.

4. VuePress provides built-in support for markdown and allows you to write content using markdown syntax. It also supports front matter for additional configuration. In contrast, Gridsome supports multiple data sources such as markdown files, JSON files, APIs, and databases. It integrates with various data sources to fetch and manipulate data, providing more flexibility in generating content for your website.

5. VuePress does not have a plugin system. It is designed to be simple and minimalistic, without the ability to extend functionality through plugins. On the other hand, Gridsome has a rich plugin ecosystem. It provides a plugin system that allows you to extend and customize the functionality of your website. There are a wide range of plugins available for features like SEO optimization, image optimization, and data sourcing.

6. VuePress generates a single HTML file for each page. This means that the content is pre-rendered and delivered as static HTML, resulting in faster page load times. Gridsome, on the other hand, generates a fully static HTML version of your site but also allows you to add dynamic features using Vue components. This hybrid approach combines the benefits of static site generation with the flexibility of dynamic components.

In Summary, VuePress is a specialized static site generator for documentation websites with a simpler setup process and built-in markdown support, while Gridsome is a versatile static site generator with multi-page website support, flexible data sourcing, a plugin system, and a hybrid approach to static site generation.