Eleventy vs Hexo Admin
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
VS
Hexo Admin
Web-based admin interface for the Hexo blog generator
| Feature | Eleventy | Hexo Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 20 · At risk |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 1,788 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress |
What are Eleventy and Hexo Admin?
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
Hexo Admin
Hexo Admin is a plugin that adds a web-based editing dashboard to the Hexo static blog generator, allowing posts to be written and managed through a browser. It brings a CMS-like workflow to an otherwise file-based generator.
- Browser-based editor
- Live preview
- Image uploads
- Hexo integration
Eleventy vs Hexo Admin: key differences
Both projects are written in JavaScript. Hexo Admin is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Eleventy. Hexo Admin is the more established project (first released 2014), while Eleventy arrived in 2018. Eleventy has the considerably larger community, at 19,929 GitHub stars versus 1,788.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Hexo Admin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Eleventy or Hexo Admin better?
Neither is universally better. Eleventy has the larger community, while Hexo Admin is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Eleventy and Hexo Admin free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Hexo Admin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Hexo Admin with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Hexo Admin: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Eleventy or Hexo Admin?
Hexo Admin 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.