Eleventy vs Wintersmith
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
Wintersmith
Flexible Node.js static site and blog generator
| Feature | Eleventy | Wintersmith |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 19 · At risk |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | CoffeeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,929 | ★ 3,478 |
| First released | 2018 | 2012 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Medium | WordPress, Jekyll |
What are Eleventy and Wintersmith?
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
Wintersmith
Wintersmith is a simple yet flexible static site generator built on Node.js that turns Markdown content into a static website or blog. Its plugin system allows custom content types and generators.
- Plugin-driven generators
- Markdown content
- Jade and Pug templates
- Static output
Eleventy vs Wintersmith: key differences
Eleventy is written in JavaScript, while Wintersmith is built with CoffeeScript. Wintersmith is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Eleventy. Wintersmith is the more established project (first released 2012), while Eleventy arrived in 2018. Eleventy has the considerably larger community, at 19,929 GitHub stars versus 3,478.
Why pick each one
Choose Eleventy if…
- Very flexible templating
- Lean output
Watch out for
- No built-in admin
- Requires Node tooling
Choose Wintersmith if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in CoffeeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Eleventy or Wintersmith 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 Wintersmith free and open-source?
Yes. Eleventy is licensed under MIT and Wintersmith under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Eleventy and Wintersmith with Docker?
Eleventy: check the project docs for container support. Wintersmith: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Eleventy or Wintersmith?
Wintersmith 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.