SHSelfHostIndex

HTMLy vs Hugo

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
HT HTMLy Databaseless PHP blogging platform VS HU Hugo Blazing fast static site generator for blogs and sites
FeatureHTMLyHugo
CategoryBlogging PlatformsBlogging Platforms
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguagePHPGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,354★ 89,369
First released20142013
ReplacesWordPress, BloggerWordPress, Medium

Why pick each one

Choose HTMLy if…

  • No database to maintain
  • Fast and lightweight
HTMLy details

Choose Hugo if…

  • Outstanding build speed
  • No server-side runtime needed
Hugo details

Frequently asked questions

Is HTMLy or Hugo better?

Neither is universally better. Hugo has the larger community, while HTMLy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are HTMLy and Hugo free and open-source?

Yes. HTMLy is licensed under MIT and Hugo under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run HTMLy and Hugo with Docker?

HTMLy: yes. Hugo: check the project docs for container support.

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