Skip to content
Day 69: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Zola

A fast static site generator in a single file, with everything built in.

Visit Zola4.5

  • Rating

    4.5 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    macOS, Windows, Linux

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is Zola?

Zola is a static site generator that ships as a single binary with everything built in. It includes syntax highlighting, Sass compilation, image processing, multilingual support, search that needs no server, and live reload while you write. You write pages in Markdown and publish the result to hosts such as Netlify, Vercel or Cloudflare Pages.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what Zola does well

  • One file to install, no extra dependencies
  • Built-in search, image tools and live reload
  • Write in plain Markdown

Cons: where it falls short

  • Runs from the command line
  • Fewer ready-made themes than larger tools

Who Zola is for

Writers and small teams who want a fast personal site or blog without a database.

Who can skip it

Anyone who prefers a point-and-click website builder.

Zola alternatives

Not sold on Zola? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Writing resources

Jekyll

Shares static site and blog with Zola. A framework, not a desktop app. Same 4.5 rating.

FrameworkFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Hugo

Focus: documentation. Shares static site and blog with Zola. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

mdBook

Focus: documentation and books. Shares markdown and static site with Zola. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

massCode

Focus: code snippets, developer notes and http client. Shares markdown and open source with Zola. Rated 4.6 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Marp CLI

Focus: slides, presentations and pdf. Shares markdown and open source with Zola. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Atuin

Focus: shell history, terminal and command line. Shares open source and github with Zola. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

Free alternatives to Zola

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

btop

Focus: system monitor, terminal and processes. Shares open source and github with Zola. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

chezmoi

Focus: dotfiles, config management and command line. Shares open source and github with Zola. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

htop

Focus: process viewer, system monitor and terminal. Shares open source and github with Zola. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

Subtitle Edit

Focus: subtitles, captions and video editing. Shares open source and github with Zola. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, Linux
4.7Visit

Yazi

Focus: file manager, terminal ui and developer tool. Shares open source and github with Zola. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

Bruno

Focus: api client, api testing and postman alternative. Shares open source and github with Zola. Rated 4.6 (Zola: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
Are you the maker of Zola?Get a free Featured badge for your site, a share image and ready-to-paste posts. No sign-up.

Free Notion database

1,100+ ways people are making money online

Real online businesses, creators and projects, broken down by how they make money: apps, online stores, AI tools and more. Free on Gumroad.

Get the free database

Free Notion database

399+ ways to make money online

Hundreds of online income methods in one place, so you can compare options and pick one to try. Free on Gumroad.

Get the free list

For research and ideas only. Results vary and nothing here is a promise of income. See our Disclaimer.

Weekly newsletter

Everything new, every Monday.

One short email every Monday with everything shipped that week: new free tools and websites, new guides, new free browser tools and what's new in my free Gumroad libraries, plus how the site is growing. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Join the newsletter

You sign up on Gumroad, which stores your email to send the newsletter. See our Privacy Policy.