Last Updated on February 27, 2026
luasmith is a small, simple, and flexible static site generator that is similar in design to Metalsmith, but much smaller because it’s built on top of Lua and C instead of JavaScript and Node.js.
Most of the heavy lifting in luasmith is done by md4c (patched for relative links), Lua, etlua, and Scintillua.
This is free and open source software. It’s cross-platform software running under Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Key Features
- Seamless relative links between Markdown files.
- Link checking.
- Syntax highlighting.
- Zero run-time dependencies (and < 500 KB).
Website: github.com/jaredkrinke/luasmith
Support:
Developer: Jared Krinke
License: MIT License
luasmith is written in Lua. Learn Lua with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Lua Static Site Generators | |
|---|---|
| Satelito | Uses Markdown (and HTML) for basic content and Lua files for metadata |
| luasmith | Small, simple, and flexible static site generator similar in design to Metalsmith |
| Sitegen | Assembles static pages through a pipeline consisting of templates and pages |
| LuaWebGen | Somewhat inspired by Hugo |
| Luapress | Simple and fast static site/blog generator with Markdown extensions |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |