Haunt vs JBake
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Haunt | JBake |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Scheme | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 1,159 |
| First released | 2015 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Jekyll, WordPress |
What are Haunt and JBake?
Haunt
Haunt is a hackable static site generator for blogs and websites, written in and configured with Guile Scheme. It treats site building as a functional pipeline, giving programmers fine-grained control over output.
- Functional build pipeline
- Scheme configuration
- Atom feed support
- Asset processing
JBake
JBake is a static site and blog generator written in Java that is geared towards developers wanting to produce documentation, websites, and blogs. It supports multiple markup and template engines.
- JVM-based generation
- Multiple template engines
- Markdown and AsciiDoc support
- Static output
Haunt vs JBake: key differences
Haunt is written in Scheme, while JBake is built with Java. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Haunt versus MIT for JBake. Haunt is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for JBake. JBake is the more established project (first released 2013), while Haunt arrived in 2015. JBake has the considerably larger community, at 1,159 GitHub stars versus 400.
Why pick each one
Choose Haunt if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Scheme
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Niche language
- Steep for non-Lispers
Choose JBake if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Haunt or JBake better?
Neither is universally better. JBake has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Haunt and JBake free and open-source?
Yes. Haunt is licensed under GPL-3.0 and JBake under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haunt and JBake with Docker?
Haunt: check the project docs for container support. JBake: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Haunt or JBake?
Haunt has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for JBake. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.