SHSelfHostIndex

Grav vs Middleman

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
GR Grav Fast flat-file CMS with no database required VS MI Middleman Ruby static site generator with modern tooling
FeatureGravMiddleman
CategoryContent Management SystemsBlogging Platforms
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePHPRuby
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcesource, binary
GitHub stars★ 15,620★ 7,113
First released20142009
ReplacesWordPress, SquarespaceJekyll, WordPress

Why pick each one

Choose Grav if…

  • Trivial to back up and migrate
  • Quick to set up
Grav details

Choose Middleman if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Mature project with 7.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in Ruby
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Middleman details

Frequently asked questions

Is Grav or Middleman better?

Grav is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Middleman if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Grav and Middleman free and open-source?

Yes. Grav is licensed under MIT and Middleman under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Grav and Middleman with Docker?

Grav: yes. Middleman: check the project docs for container support.

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