Jekyll vs Zola
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Jekyll | Zola |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 51,683 | ★ 17,463 |
| First released | 2008 | 2017 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Medium |
What are Jekyll and Zola?
Jekyll
Jekyll is a popular open-source static site generator that transforms Markdown and Liquid templates into static blogs and websites. It pioneered the modern static-site approach and integrates with GitHub Pages.
- Blog-aware by design
- Markdown and Liquid templating
- Large plugin ecosystem
- GitHub Pages support
Zola
Zola is an open-source static site generator written in Rust that ships as a single binary with no dependencies. It builds blogs and documentation sites quickly with built-in Sass and search support.
- Single dependency-free binary
- Fast builds
- Built-in Sass compilation
- Built-in search index
Jekyll vs Zola: key differences
Jekyll is written in Ruby, while Zola is built with Rust. Zola is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Jekyll. Jekyll is the more established project (first released 2008), while Zola arrived in 2017. Jekyll has the considerably larger community, at 51,683 GitHub stars versus 17,463.
Why pick each one
Choose Jekyll if…
- Mature and well documented
- Great for personal blogs
Watch out for
- Slower builds on large sites
- Ruby toolchain required
Choose Zola if…
- No toolchain to install
- Very fast
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Smaller theme selection
Frequently asked questions
Is Jekyll or Zola better?
Neither is universally better. Jekyll has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Jekyll and Zola free and open-source?
Yes. Jekyll is licensed under MIT and Zola under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Jekyll and Zola with Docker?
Jekyll: check the project docs for container support. Zola: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Jekyll or Zola?
Zola has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Jekyll. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.