Eleventy vs Lektor
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
Lektor
Static CMS with a built-in admin interface
| Feature | Eleventy | Lektor |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 3,948 |
| First released | 2018 | 2015 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress, Squarespace |
What are Eleventy and Lektor?
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
Lektor
Lektor is an open-source static content management system that combines a static site generator with an optional admin UI. It lets non-technical users edit content while developers control the structure.
- Static generator with admin UI
- Flexible content models
- Flat-file content
- One-step deployment
Eleventy vs Lektor: key differences
Eleventy is written in JavaScript, while Lektor is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Eleventy versus BSD-3-Clause for Lektor. Lektor is the more established project (first released 2015), while Eleventy arrived in 2018. Eleventy has the considerably larger community, at 19,929 GitHub stars versus 3,948.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Lektor if…
- Admin UI makes editing easy
- Static output is fast and secure
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Less active development
Frequently asked questions
Is Eleventy or Lektor better?
Neither is universally better. Eleventy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Eleventy and Lektor free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Lektor under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Lektor with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Lektor: check the project docs for container support.