HTMLy vs Serendipity

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

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FeatureHTMLySerendipity
CategoryBlogging PlatformsBlogging Platforms
LicenseMITBSD-3-Clause
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 1,354★ 226
First released20142003
ReplacesWordPress, BloggerWordPress, Blogger

Why pick each one

Choose HTMLy if…

  • No database to maintain
  • Fast and lightweight
HTMLy details

Choose Serendipity if…

  • Excellent spam handling
  • Stable long-running project
Serendipity details

Frequently asked questions

Is HTMLy or Serendipity better?

Neither is universally better. HTMLy has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are HTMLy and Serendipity free and open-source?

Yes. HTMLy is licensed under MIT and Serendipity under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run HTMLy and Serendipity with Docker?

HTMLy: yes. Serendipity: yes.

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