head to head · open source
next.js vs hexo
next.js has 142,343 GitHub stars, 32,220 forks, 3,358 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hexo has 41,770 stars, 42 forks, 75 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. next.js leads on adoption by 241% (142,343 vs 41,770 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 | ★ 142K | ★ 42K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 32K | ⑂ 42 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick next.js if
- You weight community size — 142K 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 is a JavaScript framework for building web applications, distributed under the MIT license and described by its maintainers as "The React Framework." It extends the latest React features so that developers can build full stack web applications, and it integrates Rust based JavaScript tooling to produce fast builds. The project lives in the React and Node ecosystem, and its topic list places it among static site generators, server rendering tools, hybrid and universal rendering approaches, and compiler oriented front end tooling. The repository is ten years old and has been pushed as recently as September …
read the full next.js overview →
About hexo
Hexo is a static site generator for blogs, built on Node.js and distributed as the hexo package through npm. The project is written in TypeScript, licensed under MIT, and lives in the Node.js and JavaScript ecosystem alongside the broader set of static site generators tracked under the static site generator topic. It has been published for roughly 14 years, carries about 41,766 stars, and points users to a dedicated website and documentation set at hexo.io.
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Frequently asked questions
Is next.js or hexo more popular?
next.js has 142,343 GitHub stars and hexo has 41,770. 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 (142,343 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose hexo if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.