Haunt vs VuePress
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Haunt | VuePress |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 2,832 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Jekyll, GitBook |
What are Haunt and VuePress?
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
VuePress
VuePress is a minimalistic static site generator with a Vue-powered theming system and a default theme optimized for technical documentation and blogs. Each page is rendered as static HTML and then hydrated into a single-page app.
- Vue-based theming
- Documentation default theme
- Plugin system
- Static prerendering
Haunt vs VuePress: key differences
Haunt is written in Scheme, while VuePress is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Haunt versus MIT for VuePress. Haunt is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for VuePress. Haunt is the more established project (first released 2015), while VuePress arrived in 2018. VuePress has the considerably larger community, at 2,832 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 VuePress if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Haunt or VuePress better?
VuePress 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 VuePress free and open-source?
Yes. Haunt is licensed under GPL-3.0 and VuePress under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haunt and VuePress with Docker?
Haunt: check the project docs for container support. VuePress: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Haunt or VuePress?
Haunt has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for VuePress. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.