Harp vs Lume
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Harp | Lume |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 66 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,995 | ★ 2,284 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are Harp and Lume?
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
Lume
Lume is a fast and flexible static site generator for the Deno runtime that supports many template engines and file formats out of the box. It is used to build blogs, documentation, and websites with minimal configuration.
- Built on Deno
- Many template engines
- Plugin system
- Fast static builds
Harp vs Lume: key differences
Harp is written in JavaScript, while Lume is built with TypeScript. Harp is the more established project (first released 2013), while Lume arrived in 2021. Harp has the considerably larger community, at 4,995 GitHub stars versus 2,284.
Why pick each one
Choose Harp if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Lume if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Harp or Lume better?
Neither is universally better. Harp has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Harp and Lume free and open-source?
Yes. Harp is licensed under MIT and Lume under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Harp and Lume with Docker?
Harp: check the project docs for container support. Lume: check the project docs for container support.