Lume vs Pencil
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?
| Feature | Lume | Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Haskell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,272 | ★ 5 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, Hugo | Jekyll |
Why pick each one
Choose Lume if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Pencil if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in Haskell
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Lume or Pencil better?
Lume is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pencil if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Lume and Pencil free and open-source?
Yes. Lume is licensed under MIT and Pencil under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lume and Pencil with Docker?
Lume: check the project docs for container support. Pencil: check the project docs for container support.