DocPad vs Eleventy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Eleventy
Simpler static site generator for fast websites
| Feature | DocPad | Eleventy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 23 · At risk | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | CoffeeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,046 | ★ 19,929 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Jekyll | WordPress, Medium |
What are DocPad and Eleventy?
DocPad
DocPad is a content management and static site generation system that renders documents through a flexible plugin pipeline. It supports many templating and markup languages and can produce blogs and full websites.
- Plugin pipeline
- Many markup languages
- Live regeneration
- Static output
Eleventy
Eleventy is a flexible open-source static site generator written in JavaScript that works with many templating languages. It is popular for blogs and documentation due to its simplicity and speed.
- Supports many template languages
- Fast incremental builds
- Zero client-side JavaScript by default
- Flexible data cascade
DocPad vs Eleventy: key differences
DocPad is written in CoffeeScript, while Eleventy is built with JavaScript. DocPad is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Eleventy. DocPad is the more established project (first released 2012), while Eleventy arrived in 2018. Eleventy has the considerably larger community, at 19,929 GitHub stars versus 3,046.
Why pick each one
Choose DocPad if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in CoffeeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Frequently asked questions
Is DocPad or Eleventy better?
Neither is universally better. Eleventy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are DocPad and Eleventy free and open-source?
Yes. DocPad is licensed under MIT and Eleventy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DocPad and Eleventy with Docker?
DocPad: check the project docs for container support. Eleventy: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, DocPad or Eleventy?
DocPad has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Eleventy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.