Blogofile 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 | Blogofile | Pelican |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 11 · At risk | 80 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 347 | ★ 13,339 |
| First released | 2009 | 2010 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Blogger |
What are Blogofile and Pelican?
Blogofile
Blogofile is a static website compiler that lets you write a blog or site using flat files and templates, producing pure HTML output. It includes built-in blog features such as archives, categories, and feeds.
- Static blog generation
- Categories and archives
- Atom and RSS feeds
- Mako templating
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
Blogofile vs Pelican: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Blogofile's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Pelican is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Blogofile versus AGPL-3.0 for Pelican. Blogofile is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pelican. Pelican has the considerably larger community, at 13,339 GitHub stars versus 347.
Why pick each one
Choose Blogofile if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Pelican if…
- Great for Python users
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Python environment needed
Frequently asked questions
Is Blogofile or Pelican better?
Neither is universally better. Pelican has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Blogofile and Pelican free and open-source?
Yes. Blogofile is licensed under MIT and Pelican under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Blogofile and Pelican with Docker?
Blogofile: check the project docs for container support. Pelican: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Blogofile or Pelican?
Blogofile has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pelican. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.