head to head · open source
hugo vs vscode-front-matter
hugo has 90,326 GitHub stars, 8,447 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vscode-front-matter has 2,549 stars, 107 forks, 99 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. hugo leads on adoption by 3,444% (90,326 vs 2,549 stars). hugo is written in Go under Apache-2.0; vscode-front-matter is written in TypeScript under MIT. hugo has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, vscode-front-matter 4%. hugo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cms, content-management-system, static-site-generator), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| hugo | vscode-front-matter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.4K | ⑂ 107 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hugo if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick vscode-front-matter if
- You want the vscode-front-matter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and vscode-front-matter fits your workflow better
About hugo
[Clang]: [GCC]: [Git]: [Go]: [bep]: [bugs]: [contributing]: CONTRIBUTING.md [create a proposal]: [dart sass]: [details]: [documentation repository]: [documentation]: [dragonfly bsd, freebsd, netbsd, and openbsd]: [features]: [forum]: [friends]: [hugo modules]: [installation]: [issue queue]: [linux]: [macos]: [prebuilt binary]: [requesting help]: [spf13]: [static site generator]: [support]: [themes]: [transpile sass to css]: [website]: [windows]: A fast and flexible static site generator built with love by [bep][], [spf13][], and [friends][] in Go. [Website][] [Installation][] [Documentation][] [Support][]…
About vscode-front-matter
Front Matter A Headless CMS for Visual Studio Code 📢 2026 Open Source Priorities Update I love working with and creating open source products, but after careful evaluation and working with a coach, I've decided to focus my efforts on creating a better revenue stream. As open source isn't providing me a sustainable income, I need to focus my time and effort more strategically on how to make my work sustainable. Front Matter CMS will continue to be maintained as I use it daily. However, major changes will only happen if there's a personal reason, a company commitment, or significant community support. Feature…
read the full vscode-front-matter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hugo or vscode-front-matter more popular?
hugo has 90,326 GitHub stars and vscode-front-matter has 2,549. hugo has the larger community by that measure.
Are hugo and vscode-front-matter free?
Both are open source. hugo is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vscode-front-matter under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hugo and vscode-front-matter?
hugo is written in Go and vscode-front-matter in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, hugo or vscode-front-matter?
Choose hugo if you want the larger community (90,326 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vscode-front-matter if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.