Cobalt

At a glance

• Editor score
  7.6 / 10
• Pricing
  Free plan
• Best for
  Rust blog sites
• Free plan
  Yes
• Paid from
  Free
• Content sources
  Markdown
• Facts checked
  20 Sep 2026

• Where it wins

  • Markdown, Liquid layouts, drafts, pagination, and feed generation
  • Local preview server with file watching and syntax highlighting
  • Deploys to GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, or self-hosted servers

• Where it doesn't

  • Narrower feature breadth than larger static-site generators
  • Uses a command-line workflow for site setup and publishing
  • Rust-based tooling may not fit teams seeking another language ecosystem

Our verdict on Cobalt

Cobalt is an open-source static-site generator written in Rust for developers building Markdown-driven websites, especially blogs. It converts Markdown and Liquid templates into HTML and supports pages, posts, drafts, layouts, assets, data files, pagination, RSS feeds, JSON feeds, syntax highlighting, and Sass processing. The workflow runs locally from the command line, with commands for initializing sites, creating content, previewing changes, publishing posts, building output, and deploying generated files.

Cobalt’s pricing is straightforward: it is free and open source, with no paid tier structure to compare. That makes it suitable for personal blogs, documentation sites, and small projects that want a generator without recurring software costs. Its platform coverage includes Windows, macOS, and Linux, while Git integration and deployment workflows for GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, Travis CI, and self-hosted servers support common repository-based publishing patterns. The published capabilities center on Markdown content and static output rather than a broader hosted publishing service.

The product’s strongest fit is a Rust-oriented blog workflow that values direct control over templates, content files, builds, and deployment. Liquid layouts, YAML frontmatter, drafts, pagination, local file watching, and feed generation cover the core needs of a regularly updated blog. The trade-off is narrower feature breadth than some larger static-site generators, so teams seeking a wider ecosystem or more extensive publishing scope may prefer an alternative. Choose Cobalt when a free, open-source, Rust-based Markdown workflow is the priority; look elsewhere when breadth beyond its focused static-site feature set matters more.

Your product? Our editors can test Cobalt in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Cobalt pricing

Cobalt fact sheet

Cobalt integrations

Cobalt lists 4 integrations on its own site.

• GitHub Pages
• GitLab Pages
• Travis CI
• Git

Alternatives to Cobalt

• GatsbyA broad React framework for static, dynamic, multilingual, and CMS-connected sites.9.4
• HugoA free, flexible choice for fast, content-rich websites across major desktop platforms.9.2
• PubliiA free desktop CMS for bloggers who want visual editing and static hosting flexibility.9.0

See all Cobalt alternatives →

Featured on iTechGuides

Cobalt is listed in our Static Site Generators directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update