JBake vs Publican
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | JBake | Publican |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 54 · Fair | 58 · Fair |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Java | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,159 | ★ 20 |
| First released | 2013 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, WordPress | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are JBake and Publican?
JBake
JBake is a static site and blog generator written in Java that is geared towards developers wanting to produce documentation, websites, and blogs. It supports multiple markup and template engines.
- JVM-based generation
- Multiple template engines
- Markdown and AsciiDoc support
- Static output
Publican
Publican is a fast, dependency-light static site generator for blogs and content sites built with modern JavaScript. It renders Markdown content with flexible templating and incremental builds for quick publishing.
- Markdown content
- Flexible templating
- Incremental builds
- Minimal dependencies
JBake vs Publican: key differences
JBake is written in Java, while Publican is built with JavaScript. Publican is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for JBake. JBake is the more established project (first released 2013), while Publican arrived in 2024. JBake has the considerably larger community, at 1,159 GitHub stars versus 20.
Why pick each one
Choose JBake if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Publican if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Young project
- Small theme selection
Frequently asked questions
Is JBake or Publican better?
Neither is universally better. JBake has the larger community, while Publican is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are JBake and Publican free and open-source?
Yes. JBake is licensed under MIT and Publican under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run JBake and Publican with Docker?
JBake: check the project docs for container support. Publican: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, JBake or Publican?
Publican has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for JBake. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.