Astro vs Pelican
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Astro | Pelican |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 62,777 | ★ 13,339 |
| First released | 2021 | 2010 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress, Blogger |
What are Astro and Pelican?
Astro
Astro is an open-source web framework for building fast, content-focused websites and blogs. It ships zero JavaScript by default and supports components from React, Vue, Svelte, and more.
- Zero JavaScript by default
- Use any UI framework
- Content collections for blogs
- Fast static output
Pelican
Pelican is an open-source static site generator written in Python that builds blogs from Markdown or reStructuredText. It supports themes, plugins, and import from other blogging platforms.
- Markdown and reStructuredText
- Theme and plugin support
- Import from WordPress and others
- Atom and RSS feeds
Astro vs Pelican: key differences
Astro is written in TypeScript, while Pelican is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Astro versus AGPL-3.0 for Pelican. Pelican is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Astro. Pelican is the more established project (first released 2010), while Astro arrived in 2021. Astro has the considerably larger community, at 62,777 GitHub stars versus 13,339.
Why pick each one
Choose Astro if…
- Excellent performance
- Flexible component model
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Pelican if…
- Great for Python users
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Python environment needed
Frequently asked questions
Is Astro or Pelican better?
Neither is universally better. Astro has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Astro and Pelican free and open-source?
Yes. Astro is licensed under MIT and Pelican under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Astro and Pelican with Docker?
Astro: check the project docs for container support. Pelican: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Astro or Pelican?
Pelican has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Astro. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.