Eleventy vs Jekyll
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
Jekyll
Simple, blog-aware static site generator
| Feature | Eleventy | Jekyll |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 85 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 51,683 |
| First released | 2018 | 2008 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress, Blogger |
What are Eleventy and Jekyll?
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
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
Eleventy vs Jekyll: key differences
Eleventy is written in JavaScript, while Jekyll is built with Ruby. Jekyll is the more established project (first released 2008), while Eleventy arrived in 2018. Jekyll has the considerably larger community, at 51,683 GitHub stars versus 19,929.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
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 Eleventy or Jekyll better?
Neither is universally better. Jekyll has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Eleventy and Jekyll free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Jekyll under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Jekyll with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Jekyll: check the project docs for container support.