Franklin vs Harp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Franklin | Harp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 66 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Julia | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,069 | ★ 4,995 |
| First released | 2019 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll |
What are Franklin and Harp?
Franklin
Franklin is a simple, customizable static site generator written in Julia with built-in support for live evaluation of Julia code in pages. It is well suited to technical blogs and documentation sites.
- Julia code evaluation
- Markdown extensions
- Live preview server
- Static output
Harp
Harp is a static web server and site generator that serves Jade, Markdown, EJS, CoffeeScript, Sass, LESS, and Stylus as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without any configuration. It can compile a project to a deployable static site.
- Zero-config preprocessing
- Built-in web server
- Compiles to static site
- Multiple template languages
Franklin vs Harp: key differences
Franklin is written in Julia, while Harp is built with JavaScript. Harp is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Franklin. Harp is the more established project (first released 2013), while Franklin arrived in 2019. Harp has the considerably larger community, at 4,995 GitHub stars versus 1,069.
Why pick each one
Choose Franklin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Julia
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Harp if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Franklin or Harp better?
Harp is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Franklin if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Franklin and Harp free and open-source?
Yes. Franklin is licensed under MIT and Harp under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Franklin and Harp with Docker?
Franklin: check the project docs for container support. Harp: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Franklin or Harp?
Harp has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Franklin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.