HTMLy vs Pelican
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | HTMLy | Pelican |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 56 · Fair | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,364 | ★ 13,339 |
| First released | 2014 | 2010 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Blogger |
What are HTMLy and Pelican?
HTMLy
HTMLy is an open-source databaseless flat-file blogging platform written in PHP. It is fast, lightweight, and stores all posts as text files for easy backup and migration.
- Databaseless flat-file storage
- Markdown content
- Multi-user roles
- Built-in themes
Pelican
Pelican is an open-source static site generator written in Python that builds blogs from Markdown or reStructuredText. It supports themes, plugins, and import from other blogging platforms.
- Markdown and reStructuredText
- Theme and plugin support
- Import from WordPress and others
- Atom and RSS feeds
HTMLy vs Pelican: key differences
HTMLy is written in PHP, while Pelican is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for HTMLy versus AGPL-3.0 for Pelican. HTMLy is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pelican. Pelican is the more established project (first released 2010), while HTMLy arrived in 2014. Pelican has the considerably larger community, at 13,339 GitHub stars versus 1,364. HTMLy lists first-class Docker deployment; Pelican does not.
Why pick each one
Choose HTMLy if…
- No database to maintain
- Fast and lightweight
Watch out for
- Limited plugin ecosystem
- Small community
Choose Pelican if…
- Great for Python users
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Python environment needed
Frequently asked questions
Is HTMLy or Pelican better?
Neither is universally better. Pelican 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 Pelican free and open-source?
Yes. HTMLy is licensed under MIT and Pelican under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run HTMLy and Pelican with Docker?
HTMLy: yes. Pelican: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, HTMLy or Pelican?
HTMLy has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pelican. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.