Cobalt vs Haunt
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Cobalt
Static site generator written in Rust
VS
Haunt
Programmable static site and blog generator in Scheme
| Feature | Cobalt | Haunt |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Scheme |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,538 | ★ 400 |
| First released | 2015 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll |
What are Cobalt and Haunt?
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
Haunt
Haunt is a hackable static site generator for blogs and websites, written in and configured with Guile Scheme. It treats site building as a functional pipeline, giving programmers fine-grained control over output.
- Functional build pipeline
- Scheme configuration
- Atom feed support
- Asset processing
Cobalt vs Haunt: key differences
Cobalt is written in Rust, while Haunt is built with Scheme. Licensing differs — MIT for Cobalt versus GPL-3.0 for Haunt. Cobalt is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Haunt. Cobalt has the considerably larger community, at 1,538 GitHub stars versus 400.
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 Haunt if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Scheme
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Niche language
- Steep for non-Lispers
Frequently asked questions
Is Cobalt or Haunt better?
Cobalt is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Haunt if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cobalt and Haunt free and open-source?
Yes. Cobalt is licensed under MIT and Haunt under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cobalt and Haunt with Docker?
Cobalt: check the project docs for container support. Haunt: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Cobalt or Haunt?
Cobalt has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Haunt. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.