head to head · open source
next.js vs hexo
next.js has 143,474 GitHub stars, 33,621 forks, 3,358 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hexo has 41,782 stars, 55 forks, 75 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. next.js leads on adoption by 243% (143,474 vs 41,782 stars). next.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; hexo is written in TypeScript under MIT. next.js has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, hexo 0%. next.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| next.js | hexo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 143K | ★ 42K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 34K | ⑂ 55 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick next.js if
- You weight community size — 143K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hexo if
- You want the hexo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and hexo fits your workflow better
About next.js
Next.js Getting Started Used by some of the world's largest companies, Next.js enables you to create full stack web applications by extending the latest React features, and integrating powerful Rust based JavaScript tooling for the fastest builds. Visit our Learn Next.js course to get started with Next.js. Visit the Next.js Showcase to see more sites built with Next.js. Documentation Visit to view the full documentation. Community The Next.js community can be found on GitHub Discussions where you can ask questions, voice ideas, and share your projects with other people. To chat with other community members, you…
read the full next.js overview →
About hexo
Hexo A fast, simple & powerful blog framework, powered by Node.js. Website Documentation Installation Guide Contribution Guide Code of Conduct API Twitter Features Blazing fast generating Support for GitHub Flavored Markdown and most Octopress plugins One command deploy to GitHub Pages, Heroku, etc. Powerful API for limitless extensibility Hundreds of themes & plugins Quick Start Install Hexo Install with brew on macOS and Linux: Setup your blog Start the server Create a new post Generate static files More Information Read the documentation Visit the Awesome Hexo list Find solutions in troubleshooting Join…
More in Content & Publishing
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Frequently asked questions
Is next.js or hexo more popular?
next.js has 143,474 GitHub stars and hexo has 41,782. next.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are next.js and hexo free?
Both are open source. next.js is licensed under MIT and hexo under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between next.js and hexo?
next.js is written in JavaScript and hexo 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, next.js or hexo?
Choose next.js if you want the larger community (143,474 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose hexo if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.