HTMLy vs Zola

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?
FeatureHTMLyZola
CategoryBlogging PlatformsBlogging Platforms
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePHPRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,354★ 17,308
First released20142017
ReplacesWordPress, BloggerWordPress, Medium

Why pick each one

Choose HTMLy if…

  • No database to maintain
  • Fast and lightweight
HTMLy details

Choose Zola if…

  • No toolchain to install
  • Very fast
Zola details

Frequently asked questions

Is HTMLy or Zola better?

Neither is universally better. Zola 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 Zola free and open-source?

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

Can I run HTMLy and Zola with Docker?

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

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