Cobalt vs Lume
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cobalt | Lume |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,538 | ★ 2,284 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are Cobalt and Lume?
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
Lume
Lume is a fast and flexible static site generator for the Deno runtime that supports many template engines and file formats out of the box. It is used to build blogs, documentation, and websites with minimal configuration.
- Built on Deno
- Many template engines
- Plugin system
- Fast static builds
Cobalt vs Lume: key differences
Cobalt is written in Rust, while Lume is built with TypeScript. Cobalt is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Lume. Cobalt is the more established project (first released 2015), while Lume arrived in 2021.
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 Lume if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Cobalt or Lume better?
Neither is universally better. Lume has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cobalt and Lume free and open-source?
Yes. Cobalt is licensed under MIT and Lume under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cobalt and Lume with Docker?
Cobalt: check the project docs for container support. Lume: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Cobalt or Lume?
Cobalt has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Lume. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.