Hugo
Blogging PlatformsBlazing fast static site generator for blogs and sites
Replaces WordPress, Medium
Best Lightweight Blogging Platforms for self-hosting
The 43 best Lightweight blogging platforms you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
Astro
Blogging PlatformsModern static site framework for content-driven sites
Replaces WordPress, Medium
Jekyll
Blogging PlatformsSimple, blog-aware static site generator
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Hexo
Blogging PlatformsFast and simple blog framework powered by Node.js
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Eleventy
Blogging PlatformsSimpler static site generator for fast websites
Replaces WordPress, Medium
VitePress
Blogging PlatformsVite and Vue powered static site generator
Replaces Jekyll, GitBook
Zola
Blogging PlatformsFast static site engine in a single binary
Replaces WordPress, Medium
Quartz
Blogging PlatformsPublish a digital garden from Markdown notes
Replaces Notion, Medium
Pelican
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator for Python and Markdown lovers
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Typecho
Blogging PlatformsLightweight, fast blogging program
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Metalsmith
Blogging PlatformsExtremely simple pluggable static site generator
Replaces WordPress, Jekyll
Middleman
Blogging PlatformsRuby static site generator with modern tooling
Replaces Jekyll, WordPress
Harp
Blogging PlatformsStatic web server with built-in preprocessing
Replaces Jekyll
Lektor
Blogging PlatformsStatic CMS with a built-in admin interface
Replaces WordPress, Squarespace
Wintersmith
Blogging PlatformsFlexible Node.js static site and blog generator
Replaces WordPress, Jekyll
DocPad
Blogging PlatformsStreamlined static site generator for any content
Replaces WordPress, Jekyll
VuePress
Blogging PlatformsVue-powered static site and documentation generator
Replaces Jekyll, GitBook
Nikola
Blogging PlatformsStatic site and blog generator with rich content support
Replaces WordPress, Medium
Scully
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator for Angular applications
Replaces Gatsby, WordPress
Lume
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator for Deno
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Bashblog
Blogging PlatformsA single Bash script for a minimalist blog
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Hexo Admin
Blogging PlatformsWeb-based admin interface for the Hexo blog generator
Replaces WordPress
Cobalt
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator written in Rust
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Bridgetown
Blogging PlatformsProgressive Ruby site generator and web framework
Replaces Jekyll, WordPress
HTMLy
Blogging PlatformsDatabaseless PHP blogging platform
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
JBake
Blogging PlatformsJava-based static site and blog generator
Replaces Jekyll, WordPress
Microblog.pub
Blogging PlatformsSelf-hosted single-user microblog for the fediverse
Replaces Twitter, Tumblr
Franklin
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator written in Julia
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Marmite
Blogging PlatformsZero-config static blog generator from Markdown
Replaces Medium
Textpattern
Blogging PlatformsFlexible, elegant content management and blogging system
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Chyrp Lite
Blogging PlatformsLightweight, ultra-extensible blogging engine
Replaces WordPress, Tumblr
Soupault
Blogging PlatformsHTML-centric static website generator and processor
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Haunt
Blogging PlatformsProgrammable static site and blog generator in Scheme
Replaces Jekyll
Mataroa
Blogging PlatformsNaked blogging platform for minimalists
Replaces Medium, Substack
Acrylamid
Blogging PlatformsStatic blog generator with incremental rebuilds
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
Shuttlecraft
Blogging PlatformsSingle-user IndieWeb blog with ActivityPub support
Replaces Twitter, Mastodon
PluXml
Blogging PlatformsXML-based blog and CMS without a database
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
FlatPress
Blogging PlatformsDatabase-free blogging engine that is easy to host
Replaces WordPress, Blogger
blogc
Blogging PlatformsCompiler for static blogs and websites written in C
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Saaze
Blogging PlatformsMinimal flat-file CMS and static site generator in PHP
Replaces Jekyll, WordPress
Publ
Blogging PlatformsFlexible file-based publishing system for blogs and galleries
Replaces WordPress, Jekyll
Publican
Blogging PlatformsLightweight JavaScript static site and blog generator
Replaces Jekyll, Hugo
Pencil
Blogging PlatformsStatic site generator library built in Haskell
Replaces Jekyll
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | Apache-2.0 | 90,116 |
| Astro | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 512 MB | MIT | 63,215 |
| Jekyll | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 51,708 |
| Hexo | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 41,776 |
| Eleventy | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 19,964 |
| VitePress | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | MIT | 18,400 |
| Zola | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | MIT | 17,512 |
| Quartz | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | MIT | 13,382 |
| Pelican | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 13,353 |
| Typecho | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 128 MB | GPL-2.0 | 12,440 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Hugo (90,116 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Bashblog (from 32 MB RAM, against 512 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 29 of 43 use MIT; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Lightweight within the blogging platforms category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.