Collection: Github README Generators

Since Github is the defacto standard for source control, here's a new collection post to quickly create a snazzy README for your repositories

Written by Jonathan "JD" Danylko • Last Updated: December 1st, 2023 • Develop •

Woman hiding behind a laptop with Github stickers

With GitHub, there are two kinds of READMEs: Profile and Repository.

Profile READMEs are available after signing up to GitHub and creating a new repository with the same name as the GitHub username. With the Profile README, it's easy to create it and make incremental changes as you go. Consider it your front door matt to welcome developers into your "code house."

The other type of README is a code repository README. These are more common when examining code projects in GitHub. When a developer creates a new code repository (which seems daily), the README is always a great way to introduce or ease a developer into how to install, use, or clone a repository whether it's a complete project, library, or demo.

However, It's always tedious to create a new code repository README every single time, but if you already have a template, it makes generating a README file extremely easy. Wouldn't it be great if we could automatically generate a template for our repository?

After looking over my collection of bookmarks, I noticed a new common theme: README generators. It's been a while since I wrote a collection post and thought this would be a great addition to the...well...collection.

Enjoy this new collection of GitHub Profile and Repository README Generators.

Profile README Generators

GitHub Profile README Generator

Created by Rahul Jain, this README generator has everything a GitHub profile could ask for in terms of what a contributor's or developer's skills include.

It has the option to include social media links, include projects you're currently working on, would like to work on, and technologies you'd like to learn, along with adding awarded and "buy me a coffee" badges to your profile.

Profile README Generator

I never thought I'd see a profile generator as a pseudo-IDE. This profile generator's by-line is "The best profile readme generator you will ever find."

There's 3 sample templates for a custom profile with the capabilities of adding text, images, stats, tech stack (skills), a profile view widget, social media widget, a GitHub snake, personal activities, and music to add your Spotify music list for coding sessions or your coding podcasts to advertise to others.

GitHub Profile README Maker

Another large and elaborate Profile generator containing GitHub badges, social media badges, activities you enjoy, tech stack images, and random dev memes (which is a nice touch).

Github Profilinator

This profile generator was created by Rishav Anand and contains a great layout for building a structured Profile README.

It's broken out into the following sections: Intro, Rapidfire (prefilled fields for quicker generation), Languages and Tools (skills), GitHub Stats, Visitor Counter, a dynamic blog post list, Spotify playlists, and Donations with support for Paypal, Buy me a Coffee, Liberapay, and Ko-fi.

One nice feature is the ability to add or remove a section with specialized fields for additional content.

Repository README Generators

readme.so

Similar to the Profilinator above, the readme.so site breaks everything down into a section for a code repository README. The sections are on the left, the work area in the middle, and the preview/raw markdown on the right.

As a code repository, README generators will contain quite a bit more to explain the project and every little detail. I feel this encompasses a large number of essential, optional, and critical components to describe every aspect of the repository.

For projects, this is definitely a great README generator for a repository.

Make a README

Sometimes a simple README is good enough for a simple code repository. The "Make A README" site provides a simple markdown template for creating a quick README with no bells or whistles.

As said, sometimes simple is better.

GitHub ReadMe Generator

Created by Shaan Khan, this single page generator takes a unique approach to building a README through an SPA (single-page application). As you progress through the tabs and update or select specific fields on the left, the preview is generated on the right.

The generator has the following sections: Header, Badges, About this Project, Built With, Getting Started, Usage, Roadmap, Contributing, License, Authors, and Acknowledgements.

README GEN

The README GEN generator uses an accordion approach for generating a README with simple edits for sections like header information, badges (through shields.io), project demo link, project screenshots, features, and installation steps.

The optional sections include Contribution Guidelines, Technologies Used, License Information, and Support Information. While building the README, the preview is on the right as you progress through the accordion.

AGRG: Awesome GitHub Readme Generator

This last site contains a Profile and Code Repository README generators. The profile generator looks extremely similar to another Profile generator on this list, but I digress.

The Profile and Repository README generators use a large number of features from all of the other generators on this list.

At the end of the process, it generates the README with tabs to Copy the Markdown, Download the Markdown, Download a Backup, or Preview the result.

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Picture of Jonathan "JD" Danylko

Jonathan Danylko is a web architect and entrepreneur who's been programming for over 25 years. He's developed websites for small, medium, and Fortune 500 companies since 1996.

He currently works at Insight Enterprises as an Principal Software Engineer Architect.

When asked what he likes to do in his spare time, he replies, "I like to write and I like to code. I also like to write about code."

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