Toucan
Toucan is a free, open-source static site generator written in Swift.
What Toucan is
Toucan is a free, open-source static site generator written in Swift. It uses Markdown for content and Mustache templates to create static HTML pages. The maker positions it for developers, content creators, and businesses building blogs, portfolios, or business websites. Starter templates include documentation and blog options with guide navigation, article search, and customization. Toucan includes a local preview server, multilingual support, and CMS integration. Documentation explains adding Google Analytics through a gtag.js snippet and provides guides for Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel. Sites can be hosted for free on GitHub Pages, with deployment guidance provided. The documentation describes static HTML served by a simple file server as offering faster loading and better security than dynamically generated pages. During beta, installation is available on macOS and Linux; Windows support is coming soon.
Good
- Free and open source
- Markdown and Mustache workflow
- Local preview server included
- Multilingual support
- GitHub Pages deployment guidance
Watch out
- Windows support is coming soon
- Beta installation is limited to macOS and Linux
- Analytics requires editing a site template
Who it suits
It suits developers, content creators, and businesses building Markdown-based blogs, portfolios, documentation, or business sites. macOS and Linux users can choose several installation methods.
Verdict
Toucan provides a Swift-based Markdown workflow for generating and deploying static sites. Its templates and integrations cover common publishing needs, while Windows users must wait for stated support.
Plans and prices
From Toucan's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2001.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Toucan | Free | Free on GitHub forever · open source |
The facts
Each one read from Toucan's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Analytics integration
- The docs explain how to add Google Analytics by inserting Google's gtag.js snippet into a site template.checked 4 Oct 2001
- CMS integration
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2001
- Content sources
- markdownchecked 20 Sep 2001
- Deployment
- Toucan's deployment guide covers publishing a Toucan-based static site with GitHub Pages.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Hosting
- Toucan says sites can be hosted for free on GitHub Pages.checked 4 Oct 2001
- How it generates sites
- Toucan uses Markdown for content and Mustache as its template engine to generate static HTML pages.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Installation limits
- The installation overview says that during the beta release Toucan is available only for macOS and Linux, with Windows support coming soon.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Local preview server
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2001
- Multilingual support
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2001
- Other integrations
- The documentation includes integration guides for Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Security
- The documentation says static HTML served by a simple file server can provide faster load times and better security than pages generated dynamically for each request.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Support
- Toucan's contact page invites questions about the generator and inquiries from people looking to build a website with it.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Supported languages
- Swiftchecked 20 Sep 2001
- Templates
- The official starter templates include options for documentation sites and blogs, with features such as guide navigation, article search, and customization.checked 4 Oct 2001
- What it does
- Toucan is a Markdown-based static site generator written in Swift.checked 4 Oct 2001
- Who it is for
- The maker describes Toucan as suitable for developers, content creators, and businesses building sites such as blogs, portfolios, or business websites.checked 4 Oct 2001
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2001
Where it runs
- Linux installation
- The Linux guide lists native .deb or .rpm packages, Homebrew, and compiling from source as installation methods.checked 4 Oct 2001
- macOS installation
- The macOS guide lists Homebrew, Mint, prebuilt binaries, a PKG installer, and compiling from source as installation methods.checked 4 Oct 2001
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