Hexo Admin vs Scully
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Hexo Admin | Scully |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 20 · At risk | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,788 | ★ 2,527 |
| First released | 2014 | 2019 |
| Replaces | WordPress | Gatsby, WordPress |
What are Hexo Admin and Scully?
Hexo Admin
Hexo Admin is a plugin that adds a web-based editing dashboard to the Hexo static blog generator, allowing posts to be written and managed through a browser. It brings a CMS-like workflow to an otherwise file-based generator.
- Browser-based editor
- Live preview
- Image uploads
- Hexo integration
Scully
Scully is a static site generator designed for Angular projects that prerenders pages into static HTML for better performance and SEO. It adds blogging capabilities to Angular apps through its plugin system.
- Angular prerendering
- Static HTML output
- Blog plugin
- Improved SEO
Hexo Admin vs Scully: key differences
Hexo Admin is written in JavaScript, while Scully is built with TypeScript. Hexo Admin is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Scully. Hexo Admin is the more established project (first released 2014), while Scully arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Hexo Admin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Scully if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Hexo Admin or Scully better?
Neither is universally better. Scully has the larger community, while Hexo Admin is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Hexo Admin and Scully free and open-source?
Yes. Hexo Admin is licensed under MIT and Scully under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hexo Admin and Scully with Docker?
Hexo Admin: check the project docs for container support. Scully: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Hexo Admin or Scully?
Hexo Admin has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Scully. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.