Cecil vs Eleventy

Cecil8.9Visit Eleventy8.7Visit

Higher score Cecil #4 in Static Site Generators 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Cecil

vs

Eleventy #6 in Static Site Generators 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Eleventy

• Cecil fits best

  PHP static sites

• Eleventy fits best

  Simple flexible static sites

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Side by side

Feature	Cecil 8.9/10 Visit ↗	Eleventy 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	8.7
Ranking	#4 in Static Site Generators	#6 in Static Site Generators
Best for	PHP static sites	Simple flexible static sites
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Cecil 3/4 · Eleventy 3/4
CMS integration	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Incremental builds	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Multilingual support	✓	✓
Local preview server	✓	✓
Specs
Content sources	Markdown	Markdown
Supported languages	PHP	HTML, Markdown, WebC, JavaScript, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, Mustache, EJS, Haml, Pug, TypeScript, JSX, MDX, Sass
Our review
Pros	Incremental builds reduce work for changed pages and dependent templates. Multilingual content, translations, taxonomies, RSS, and pagination are built in. Responsive images support WebP and AVIF output alongside SEO helpers.	Zero-configuration setup with extensible configuration Supports Markdown and many templating languages Includes collections, data cascade, watch mode, and preview server
Cons	The supported language is PHP. It does not include AI features. Its output is static, without a database or server-side runtime.	Requires Node.js for local development CMS integration is guidance rather than a built-in CMS Internationalization relies on guidance and plugin support
Our verdict	Cecil is an open-source, command-line static site generator written in PHP. It turns Markdown and plain-text content, images, and Twig templates into static websites without a database or server-side runtime. The project is aimed at… Read the review →	Eleventy is an open-source static site generator that transforms directories of templates into pre-rendered HTML. It supports Markdown plus HTML, WebC, JavaScript, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, Mustache, EJS, Haml, Pug, TypeScript, JSX,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Cecil — where it wins

  • Incremental builds reduce work for changed pages and dependent templates.
  • Multilingual content, translations, taxonomies, RSS, and pagination are built in.
  • Responsive images support WebP and AVIF output alongside SEO helpers.

  Where it doesn't

  • The supported language is PHP.
  • It does not include AI features.
  • Its output is static, without a database or server-side runtime.

• Eleventy — where it wins

  • Zero-configuration setup with extensible configuration
  • Supports Markdown and many templating languages
  • Includes collections, data cascade, watch mode, and preview server

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires Node.js for local development
  • CMS integration is guidance rather than a built-in CMS
  • Internationalization relies on guidance and plugin support

• Cecil8.9/10 · Free plan

  A focused, open-source choice for PHP teams building multilingual static sites.

  Visit CecilFull verdict →
• Eleventy8.7/10 · Free plan

  A flexible, framework-optional generator for Markdown and template-driven static sites.

  Visit EleventyFull verdict →