People say Hugo is super fast and cheap. Sites like Netlify and Cloudflare Pages let you put your Hugo website online for free or for very little money.
But for some of us, this “save money” idea isn’t always true.
Table of Contents
Hugo and Static Hosting: What’s Special?
Hugo is a tool that builds your website ahead of time, so all the pages are ready to go when someone visits. This is called a static site.
Static hosting is when you put those ready-to-go pages on sites like Netlify or Cloudflare Pages.
Why use it?
- The site loads really fast
- It is very safe from hackers
- You don’t have to update and fix plugins or software
The Problem: Email Hosting
Now, let’s talk about email.
A lot of people want to use email with their own website name (like yourname@yourwebsite.com). To do this, you need a special kind of server.
Even if you move your website to Netlify or Cloudflare, you still need a server for your email.
- If you keep your server just for email, you’re still paying the same
- If you use a service like Google Workspace or Proton Mail, it can cost even more than renting a server
So, moving your website won’t always save you money if you still need email. Server bills might stay the same!
Why Use Hugo Then?
If you have to pay for your server anyway, Hugo might not make things cheaper.
But there are still good reasons to use Hugo:
- You can move just your website (not email) to make it much faster and safer
- Your public pages (like home, news, music samples) can use Hugo for speed
- Visitors from other countries can see your site faster
WordPress Can Still Be Fast
Some people think WordPress is slow, but you can make it quick with a few tricks:
- Use tools that save copies of your pages (caching)
- Use simple themes and fewer add-ons (plugins)
- Shrink images so they load fast
- Use Cloudflare or another CDN to share your site all over the world
So, if you like WordPress like I do, you don’t always have to consider other alternatives.
My Conclusion
If you are hosting your own email, you will probably always need a server. In this case, moving to Hugo might not save you money.
But Hugo is great way to learn how to make a website, and also makes your website fast, safe, and easy to keep online.
Pick the tool that fits your needs, not just what’s popular.
Leave a Reply