Cobalt vs Orchid
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
Orchid
Archived
Static site generator for documentation and blogs on the JVM
| Feature | Cobalt | Orchid |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,538 | ★ 529 |
| First released | 2015 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll, GitBook |
What are Cobalt and Orchid?
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
Orchid
Orchid is a powerful and extensible static site generator built on the JVM that targets project documentation, wikis, and personal blogs. It bundles plugins for changelogs, presentations, and search.
- Plugin-driven generation
- Documentation themes
- Built-in search
- JVM ecosystem
Cobalt vs Orchid: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Orchid's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Cobalt is actively maintained. Cobalt is written in Rust, while Orchid is built with Kotlin. Licensing differs — MIT for Cobalt versus LGPL-3.0 for Orchid. Cobalt is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Orchid. Cobalt is the more established project (first released 2015), while Orchid arrived in 2017. Cobalt has the considerably larger community, at 1,538 GitHub stars versus 529.
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 Orchid if…
- Released under the LGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Kotlin
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Cobalt or Orchid better?
Cobalt is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Orchid if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Cobalt and Orchid free and open-source?
Yes. Cobalt is licensed under MIT and Orchid under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cobalt and Orchid with Docker?
Cobalt: check the project docs for container support. Orchid: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Cobalt or Orchid?
Cobalt has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Orchid. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.