Haunt vs Saber
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Haunt | Saber |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Scheme | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 2,115 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Gatsby, Jekyll |
What are Haunt and Saber?
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
Saber
Saber is a static site generator built on top of Vue.js that lets you create static websites and blogs using Vue components and Markdown. It bridges the gap between flexible single-page apps and traditional static generators.
- Vue-component pages
- Markdown content
- Plugin ecosystem
- Static output
Haunt vs Saber: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Saber's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Haunt is actively maintained. Haunt is written in Scheme, while Saber is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Haunt versus MIT for Saber. Haunt is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Saber. Haunt is the more established project (first released 2015), while Saber arrived in 2019. Saber has the considerably larger community, at 2,115 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 Saber if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Haunt or Saber better?
Neither is universally better. Saber has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Haunt and Saber free and open-source?
Yes. Haunt is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Saber under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haunt and Saber with Docker?
Haunt: check the project docs for container support. Saber: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Haunt or Saber?
Haunt has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Saber. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.