Proprietary no-code site builders make small, new, and one-off websites easier to build because they offer ready-to-use components, a simple way to build a website, and a relatively easy content editing experience - all without touching a line of code. But as developers, we know that “no-code” is a bug, not a feature.
Code is capable and powerful; it unlocks an amazing amount of functionality and lets us build digital experiences that actually represent us. Staying within the guardrails of a no-code tool is the fastest way to get started, but ultimately clips our wings and locks us into a system that is more expensive, limited, and closed than the open-source frameworks that we know and love. And most importantly, one that doesn’t let us use our coding powers to build what we really want to build.
Primo combines the ease of a site builder with the power of the modern web so that developers and people who code can build fast, attractive, easy to edit websites.
Start your site with components from primo’s growing Public Library, a growing collection of responsive, interactive, accessible components that you can use out of the box or use as a starting point.
Primo makes editing and updating content feel as easy and familiar as working in a document editor. Content editors can format page copy with markdown or by using the toolbar.
See something you want to update on your site? Instead of wasting time digging through a complicated CMS, just click edit on the component itself to edit it in isolation, seeing a live preview of the change as you update its fields.
Start a new site without having to clone or install anything. Invite others to collaborate instantly (coders or non-coders). Publish your site and come back to it months later without having to remember how to deploy new code or update content.
primo’s built-in IDE lets you focus on one component at a time - using TailwindCSS to style with ease and Skypack to unlock the limitless potential of JavaScript.
Instantly convert a component into a Symbol so you can use it across your site - keeping its code consistent while its data varies. And since components are self-contained, you can use them across all your other sites too.
Since primo builds your site in clean HTML and CSS and saves your data as simple JSON, you can always start a project in primo and migrate later on to a more robust tool should you need it.
It's a matter of fact that static sites load faster, and there's very little you can do in the way of plugins, services, and hacks to make a site load as quickly when it's not just a few files on a server. And since it’s just HTML and CSS, it’ll render quickly too.
Since your website is just a collection of files, there’s nothing to hack or inject.
A server-hosted site can be brought down by a sudden influx of traffic. Since static sites don’t [really] run on a server, you rarely have to worry about keeping an eye on traffic.
Forget about the site for months at a time without worrying about it breaking. When you come back, your CMS is right where you left it.
Publish your primo sites for free on hosts like Vercel and Netlify.