After years in the tech industry, moving from hands-on development to leading teams and architecting solutions, I’ve learned to deeply appreciate tools that are simple, powerful and elegant. When I decided to build my new personal website, I had a very clear checklist. The solution had to be:
- Incredibly fast for an excellent user experience.
- Fundamentally secure with minimal maintenance overhead.
- Simple to manage but powerful enough to grow.
- Modern and elegant in its architecture.
- Cost-effective, with hosting costs close to zero.
This set of requirements led me directly to Hugo, a static site generator and it has proven to be the perfect choice.
A modern solution built for speed#
In today’s web, performance is not a feature; it’s a prerequisite. I wanted a site that loads instantly, anywhere in the world. Hugo achieves this by generating a static site. This means that unlike a dynamic system that builds a page from a database for every visitor, Hugo builds every page just once, ahead of time. The result is a collection of lightweight HTML files that can be served globally from a CDN (Content Delivery Network) at lightning speed.
This approach, often called the Jamstack, is the epitome of a modern, efficient web architecture.
Simplicity meets power#
My primary motivation was to find a solution that was simple to maintain without sacrificing power. This is where Hugo truly shines.
The simplicity: There is no database to manage, no server-side language like PHP to update and no ecosystem of plugins that require constant security patches. The maintenance overhead is virtually non-existent. I can focus on creating content, not on system administration.
The power: This simplicity doesn’t come at the cost of capability. Hugo’s templating system is incredibly powerful. When combined with a feature-rich theme like Blowfish, which I use for this site, you get a vast amount of functionality out of the box, from beautiful galleries and diagrams to advanced SEO features.
Fort-Knox security at virtually zero cost#
Security was another non-negotiable requirement. A static site is inherently secure. With no database or dynamic backend, the attack surface for malicious actors is dramatically reduced.
This robust security comes with a fantastic bonus: near-zero cost. Hosting static files is incredibly cheap. Platforms like Cloudflare Pages or Netlify offer generous free tiers that are more than sufficient for most personal and even many business websites. My hosting bill is effectively $0.
Why not WordPress?#
I have a great deal of respect for WordPress. It’s a powerful tool that has democratized the web, especially for non-technical users. However, for this project, it was the wrong tool for the job. The maintenance cycle of themes, plugins and core updates, along with the inherent security concerns of a dynamic, database-driven system, was precisely the complexity I wanted to avoid.
I didn’t need a web-based admin panel. My workflow is based on plain text files and Git for version control—a process Hugo integrates with seamlessly.
Final thoughts#
For me, choosing Hugo wasn’t just a technical decision; it was a strategic one. It represents a philosophy of building for the web that prioritizes performance, security and efficient, low-overhead workflows.
It may not be the right solution for everyone—particularly those who require a non-technical admin interface. But for anyone with a technical background who values a lean, powerful and modern web stack, I believe Hugo is an excellent choice. It allows me to build a world-class website with minimal fuss and maximum confidence.