Franklin vs Publ
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Franklin | Publ |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 69 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Julia | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,069 | ★ 41 |
| First released | 2019 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | WordPress, Jekyll |
What are Franklin and Publ?
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
Publ
Publ is a Python content management and blogging engine that publishes content directly from files in a directory tree. It supports image galleries, Markdown content, and templated layouts without a separate database for content.
- File-based content publishing
- Built-in image gallery support
- Markdown and template driven
- No content database required
Franklin vs Publ: key differences
Franklin is written in Julia, while Publ is built with Python. Publ is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Franklin. Franklin has the considerably larger community, at 1,069 GitHub stars versus 41.
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 Publ if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Franklin or Publ better?
Neither is universally better. Franklin has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Franklin and Publ free and open-source?
Yes. Franklin is licensed under MIT and Publ under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Franklin and Publ with Docker?
Franklin: check the project docs for container support. Publ: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Franklin or Publ?
Publ 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.