If you’ve just started programming, you may get excited by the powerful tools available in 2026 that help to skip all the legwork. But what if I told you that despite the marvel of LLMs, they’re not the best-in-class tools for generating a static website?
LLMs are not the best-in-class tools for most professions, and web development is no different. Every token costs money, and they’re a bit of a gamble—the results can vary. In comparison, static site generators (SSGs) are time-honored solutions that solve a very specific problem: scalability.
Fundamental differences
Static site generators and LLMs are diametrically opposed
An SSG is a program that compiles a suite of templates into many HTML files. Templates comprise domain-specific syntax (like curly braces), placeholder variables, and HTML—it’s a mix of markup and code. Usually, you write your text content in another markup format (like Markdown), set up your templates, and the SSG will compile your content into HTML. Consequently, the outputs are very deterministic (predictable), with no differences between outputs except for their content.
An LLM is a combination of vectors, mathematics, and a little magic. The full scope escapes me, but I’m confident when I say they’re non-deterministic. They’re models of human language that statistically predict the next token. Blending them with a great deal of context changes their output, which varies between answers.
This contrast between deterministic and non-deterministic represents an obvious conflict. But which one do you choose for building a static website, and why?
Scalability
LLMs will buckle as a static website grows
If you’re building a small landing page, a simple HTML document may suffice. Displaying information or generating leads doesn’t require a great deal of code reuse, but publishing content does. A typical blog can have hundreds of posts, and larger organizations, tens of thousands. Code reuse is one of the earliest fundamental lessons you learn as a programmer, which I think some (novice) vibe coders don’t understand. LLMs encourage disposable code by making it so incredibly cheap to produce in large quantities or by merely forgetting. It’s difficult to judge the exact outcome.
A client may accept a simple landing page, and it may work for you, but it’s not necessarily the most responsible choice. For example, they may wish to expand from a simple landing page to include business-specific content or to include additional contact/about pages. A small website can quickly grow into a dozen web pages, which presents a dilemma: what approach do you take? Do you vibe code multiple individual pages, or do you find a more scalable solution?
By scalable, I mean designing a system to handle increasing workloads. Take, for example, a new website you wrote for a client. It has a dozen pages. Now the client wishes to display a call to action in a sidebar on every page. An LLM can surely update all 12 pages, but what about the next change, or the change after that? Will you duplicate all of your work 12 times from here until the website ceases to exist?
The website could also expand to hundreds or thousands of pages. Naturally, you see how the workload begins to stack up. Every minor change requires replication across many pages, and subtle bugs will sneak in when using a non-deterministic tool like an LLM. I’ve seen LLMs remove entire blocks of code for no reason, or for reasons I don’t fully understand; either way, the change isn’t entirely within my comprehension. Will you verify every single modification? I’m assuming you won’t have written automated tests either, so will you manually test each file?
Why You Should Learn Scripting Even If You’re Not A Programmer
Make your computer work for you, not the other way around!
SSGs
What works for one works for all
Setting up a simple website with a static site generator can take 20–30 minutes using Hugo. What you get is a deterministic tool that guarantees to replicate code across all pages—what works for one works for all. When you make sweeping changes, you simply update one template file and recompile, which takes only a second. You can even use an LLM to make the change, so the choice isn’t mutually exclusive, and LLMs can be very much part of your workflow.
An SSG is a tool that solves a specific problem. The advent of LLMs does not change the existence of that problem. However, LLMs are not the right tool for the job. Vibe coding a multi-page website without proper tooling is a gross waste of resources, and if you intend to build a static website, there is no better way than an SSG.
SSGs and LLMs are tools at opposite ends of the spectrum. There is no reason they cannot work together, but there’s a powerful case against using LLMs to build a static website. If you’re doing that, and it’s more than a few pages, you need to stop and reassess your approach. Some may say it’s subjective, but so is putting square wheels on a car. If a person wishes to do that, who am I to say? Scratch that; it’s silly. Like square wheels, use the correct tool for the job.
8/10
- Operating System
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Windows 11 Pro
- CPU
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Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Processor (8 Cores, 8 Threads, 12 MB Cache)
- GPU
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Intel Arc Xe2 GPU with >60 TOPS
- RAM
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32GB LPDDR5x 8533MT/s soldered, dual channel
As one of the first-ever ThinkPads with Microsoft CoPilot AI, this laptop packs a significant punch with features like AI wellness tools, a gorgeous OLED display, and a CPU that can handle multitasking.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
