DocPad 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 | DocPad | Franklin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 23 · At risk | 73 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | CoffeeScript | Julia |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,046 | ★ 1,069 |
| First released | 2012 | 2019 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Jekyll | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are DocPad and Franklin?
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
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
DocPad vs Franklin: key differences
DocPad is written in CoffeeScript, while Franklin is built with Julia. DocPad is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Franklin. DocPad is the more established project (first released 2012), while Franklin arrived in 2019. DocPad has the considerably larger community, at 3,046 GitHub stars versus 1,069.
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 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 DocPad or Franklin better?
Neither is universally better. DocPad has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are DocPad and Franklin free and open-source?
Yes. DocPad is licensed under MIT and Franklin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DocPad and Franklin with Docker?
DocPad: check the project docs for container support. Franklin: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, DocPad or Franklin?
DocPad has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Franklin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.