Eleventy vs Metalsmith
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
Metalsmith
Extremely simple pluggable static site generator
| Feature | Eleventy | Metalsmith |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 68 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 7,822 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress, Jekyll |
What are Eleventy and Metalsmith?
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
Metalsmith
Metalsmith is a static site generator that treats every site as a series of plugins manipulating files, making it suitable for blogs, project pages, and documentation. All functionality, including Markdown rendering and templating, is provided by plugins.
- Everything is a plugin
- Pipeline architecture
- Markdown and templating plugins
- Static output
Eleventy vs Metalsmith: key differences
Both projects are written in JavaScript. Metalsmith is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Eleventy. Metalsmith 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 7,822.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Metalsmith if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Eleventy or Metalsmith 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 Metalsmith free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Metalsmith under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Metalsmith with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Metalsmith: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Eleventy or Metalsmith?
Metalsmith 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.