Dotclear vs Jekyll
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dotclear | Jekyll |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 85 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46 | ★ 51,683 |
| First released | 2003 | 2008 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Blogger |
What are Dotclear and Jekyll?
Dotclear
Dotclear is a long-standing open-source blogging engine designed to be easy to install and use. It offers themes, plugins, and full control over publishing without proprietary lock-in.
- Easy installation
- Theme and plugin support
- Multi-blog management
- Built-in media handling
Jekyll
Jekyll is a popular open-source static site generator that transforms Markdown and Liquid templates into static blogs and websites. It pioneered the modern static-site approach and integrates with GitHub Pages.
- Blog-aware by design
- Markdown and Liquid templating
- Large plugin ecosystem
- GitHub Pages support
Dotclear vs Jekyll: key differences
Dotclear is written in PHP, while Jekyll is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Dotclear versus MIT for Jekyll. Dotclear is the more established project (first released 2003), while Jekyll arrived in 2008. Jekyll has the considerably larger community, at 51,683 GitHub stars versus 46. Dotclear lists first-class Docker deployment; Jekyll does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Dotclear if…
- Simple to set up
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Less known outside France
Choose Jekyll if…
- Mature and well documented
- Great for personal blogs
Watch out for
- Slower builds on large sites
- Ruby toolchain required
Frequently asked questions
Is Dotclear or Jekyll better?
Neither is universally better. Jekyll has the larger community, while Dotclear is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dotclear and Jekyll free and open-source?
Yes. Dotclear is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Jekyll under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dotclear and Jekyll with Docker?
Dotclear: yes. Jekyll: check the project docs for container support.