Cobalt vs Franklin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cobalt | Franklin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 73 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Julia |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,538 | ★ 1,069 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are Cobalt and Franklin?
Cobalt
Cobalt is a static site generator written in Rust that builds blogs and websites from Markdown and Liquid templates. It produces fast, self-contained static output and ships as a single binary.
- Single-binary tool
- Liquid templating
- Markdown content
- Fast builds
Franklin
Franklin is a simple, customizable static site generator written in Julia with built-in support for live evaluation of Julia code in pages. It is well suited to technical blogs and documentation sites.
- Julia code evaluation
- Markdown extensions
- Live preview server
- Static output
Cobalt vs Franklin: key differences
Cobalt is written in Rust, while Franklin is built with Julia. Cobalt is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Franklin. Cobalt is the more established project (first released 2015), while Franklin arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Cobalt if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose Franklin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Julia
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Cobalt or Franklin better?
Cobalt is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Franklin if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cobalt and Franklin free and open-source?
Yes. Cobalt is licensed under MIT and Franklin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cobalt and Franklin with Docker?
Cobalt: check the project docs for container support. Franklin: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Cobalt or Franklin?
Cobalt has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Franklin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.