Hugo is a static site generator written in Go. Steve Francia originally created Hugo as an open source project in 2013. Since v0.14 in 2015, Hugo has continued development under the lead of Bjørn Erik Pedersen with other contributors. Hugo is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
Hugo is particularly noted for its speed, and Hugo's official website states it is "the world's fastest framework for building websites". Notable adopters are Smashing Magazine, which migrated from WordPress to a Jamstack solution with Hugo in 2017, and Cloudflare, which switched its Developer Docs from Gatsby to Hugo in 2022.
Hugo takes data files, internationalization and localization bundles, configuration, templates for layouts, static files, assets, and content written in Markdown, HTML, AsciiDoc, or Org-mode and renders a static website. Some notable features are multilingual support, image processing, asset management, custom output formats, markdown render hooks and shortcodes. Nested sections allow for different types of content to be separated, e.g. for a website containing a blog and a podcast.
What is Hugo?
Hugo by The Hugo Authors (developed by Bjorn Erik Pedersen) is open-source Windows software in the languages & sdks category. The first release dates back to 2013. It is written in Go. Besides Windows, it is available for GNU/Linux, macOS, Berkeley Software Distribution and Unix-like operating system.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides Portable installers for 64-bit and ARM64 Windows. It runs without installation (portable).
Updates and version history
The current version is 0.168.0, released on October 13, 2026. The version history goes back to October 28, 2022: 171 releases, all linked to the official files. That is about 43 releases a year. The last update is less than a month old.
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (gohugoio/hugo) has 90,197 stars. Wikipedia has an article about it in 12 of our languages. Similar programs include Go Programming Language, LLVM and Deno.
Project description on GitHub: “The world’s fastest framework for building websites.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Native ARM64 build for Windows on Arm
- Portable: runs without installation
- Frequent updates (about 43 a year)
- Also runs on GNU/Linux, macOS and Berkeley Software Distribution
- Large user base
- Mature project (since 2013)
In short: Hugo is an open-source languages & sdk tool for 64-bit and ARM64 PCs. It is actively maintained.
Is Hugo safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
F6CF760426DE305CDD85C6EAA7E203A4D623E74CC6AD8FEA61228CAF1E59F243· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Security practices (OpenSSF Scorecard)
Automated checks of the gohugoio/hugo repository on GitHub by the Open Source Security Foundation, last run on October 19, 2026.
- Actively maintained10
- Security policy10
- No dangerous workflows10
- Fuzzing10
- Licence declared10
- Published packages10
- No binaries in the repository5
- Pinned dependencies4
- Static code analysis2
- Code review1
- Restricted token permissions0
- OpenSSF Best Practices badge0
- Signed releases0
The score rates how the project is developed and released, not whether the program is safe to install. scorecard.dev
Recent versions
All 171 versions ›171 versions over 4 years · about 43 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.168.0Latest | October 13, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
| 0.167.0 | September 28, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
| 0.166.0 | September 9, 2026 | — | ARM64 ZIP64-bit ZIP |
| 0.165.0 | August 12, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
| 0.164.0 | July 6, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
| 0.163.3 | June 18, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
| 0.163.2 | June 15, 2026 | — | ARM64 ZIP64-bit ZIP |
| 0.163.1 | June 11, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIPARM64 ZIP |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id Hugo.Hugo -eRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install hugoInformation
- Publisher
- The Hugo Authors
- Developer
- Bjorn Erik Pedersen and Steve Francia
- Category
- Languages & SDKs
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/gohugoio/hugo
- Written in
- Go
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit, ARM64
- Installer
- Portable
- Other platforms
- GNU/Linux, macOS, Berkeley Software Distribution, Unix-like operating system
- Version
- 0.168.0
- Released
- October 13, 2026
- First release
- 2013
- Added to the catalogue
- February 3, 2023
- Versions listed
- 171
- Updates / year
- 43.2
- GitHub stars
- 90,197
- GitHub forks
- 8,395
- Website
- gohugo.io
- winget ID
- Hugo.Hugo
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
Alternatives to Hugo
See all ›-
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hugo free?
Yes. Hugo is open-source software under the Apache-2.0 licence.
Is Hugo safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Hugo with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Does Hugo run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
Yes, there is a native ARM64 installer.
Where can I download an older version of Hugo?
The versions page lists all 171 versions with links to their official installer files, back to October 28, 2022.
Can I use Hugo without administrator rights?
Yes, it is portable: unpack and run it.
What are alternatives to Hugo?
Go Programming Language, LLVM, Deno, CMake and Yarn. The alternatives page compares them.
