blogc vs Middleman
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | blogc | Middleman |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 6 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | C | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 192 | ★ 7,111 |
| First released | 2015 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll, WordPress |
What are blogc and Middleman?
blogc
blogc is a blog compiler written in C that builds static websites from template and source files. It is paired with blogc-make to handle building entire blogs with feeds and pagination.
- Fast static site compiler in C
- Atom feed and pagination support
- Minimal dependencies
- Template-based rendering
Middleman
Middleman is a static site generator using all the shortcuts and tools in modern web development, including templating, asset pipelines, and helpers. Its blogging extension turns it into a full static blog engine.
- Asset pipeline
- Blogging extension
- Helpers and partials
- Static output
blogc vs Middleman: key differences
Blogc is written in C, while Middleman is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for blogc versus MIT for Middleman. Blogc is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Middleman. Middleman is the more established project (first released 2009), while blogc arrived in 2015. Middleman has the considerably larger community, at 7,111 GitHub stars versus 192.
Why pick each one
Choose blogc if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Choose Middleman if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is blogc or Middleman better?
Neither is universally better. Middleman has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are blogc and Middleman free and open-source?
Yes. blogc is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Middleman under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run blogc and Middleman with Docker?
blogc: check the project docs for container support. Middleman: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, blogc or Middleman?
blogc has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Middleman. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.