Haunt 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 | Haunt | Lume |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Scheme | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 2,284 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are Haunt and Lume?
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
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
Haunt vs Lume: key differences
Haunt is written in Scheme, while Lume is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Haunt versus MIT for Lume. Haunt is the more established project (first released 2015), while Lume arrived in 2021. Lume has the considerably larger community, at 2,284 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 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 Haunt or Lume better?
Lume is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Haunt if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Haunt and Lume free and open-source?
Yes. Haunt is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Lume under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haunt and Lume with Docker?
Haunt: check the project docs for container support. Lume: check the project docs for container support.