Eleventy vs Quartz
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
Quartz
Publish a digital garden from Markdown notes
| Feature | Eleventy | Quartz |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 75 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 13,281 |
| First released | 2018 | 2021 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | Notion, Medium |
What are Eleventy and Quartz?
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
Quartz
Quartz is a static site generator that transforms Markdown notes, including Obsidian vaults, into a fast, searchable digital garden website. It supports backlinks, graph views, and full-text search out of the box.
- Digital garden publishing
- Backlinks and graph view
- Full-text search
- Obsidian compatible
Eleventy vs Quartz: key differences
Eleventy is written in JavaScript, while Quartz is built with TypeScript. Eleventy is the more established project (first released 2018), while Quartz arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Quartz if…
- Great for note publishing
- Fast static output
Watch out for
- Static-only
- Build step required
Frequently asked questions
Is Eleventy or Quartz better?
Neither is universally better. Eleventy has the larger community, while Quartz is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Eleventy and Quartz free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Quartz under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Quartz with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Quartz: check the project docs for container support.