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Dotclear vs Serendipity

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
DO Dotclear Easy-to-use open-source blogging engine VS SE Serendipity PHP-powered weblog application with strong spam control
FeatureDotclearSerendipity
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score62 · Good76 · Good
CategoryBlogging PlatformsBlogging Platforms
LicenseGPL-2.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 46★ 227
First released20032003
ReplacesWordPress, BloggerWordPress, Blogger

What are Dotclear and Serendipity?

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

Serendipity

Serendipity is an open-source PHP and MySQL-powered weblog application that emphasizes ease of use and effective spam protection. It supports plugins, themes, and multiple blogs.

  • Strong built-in spam protection
  • Plugin and theme system
  • Multiple blog support
  • Easy upgrades

Dotclear vs Serendipity: key differences

Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Dotclear versus BSD-3-Clause for Serendipity. Serendipity has the considerably larger community, at 227 GitHub stars versus 46.

Why pick each one

Choose Dotclear if…

  • Simple to set up
  • Mature and stable

Watch out for

  • Smaller community
  • Less known outside France
Dotclear details

Choose Serendipity if…

  • Excellent spam handling
  • Stable long-running project

Watch out for

  • Small modern community
  • Dated default themes
Serendipity details

Frequently asked questions

Is Dotclear or Serendipity better?

Neither is universally better. Serendipity has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Dotclear and Serendipity free and open-source?

Yes. Dotclear is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Serendipity under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Dotclear and Serendipity with Docker?

Dotclear: yes. Serendipity: yes.

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