---
title: "Appendix 7: Template Engines Reference"
short_title: Template Engines Reference
---

When a page gets rendered, it goes through a template engine that can expand
special syntax that runs logic. This is useful for authoring pages that list
blog posts by date or category, for instance.

Here is a list of the template engines that come with PieCrust out of the box.


## Jinja2

Name: `jinja2`

[Jinja2][j2] is a powerful template engine that is set by default in PieCrust.
You can read the [templating documentation here][j2tpl].


## Mustache

Name: `mustache` 

[Mustache][mt] is a minimal template engine that runs fast and keeps your
templates files simple and clean.


[j2]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/
[j2tpl]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/latest/templates/
[mt]: https://mustache.github.io/