Metalsmith vs Pelican
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?
Metalsmith
Extremely simple pluggable static site generator
VS
Pelican
Static site generator for Python and Markdown lovers
| Feature | Metalsmith | Pelican |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,822 | ★ 13,331 |
| First released | 2014 | 2010 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Jekyll | WordPress, Blogger |
Why pick each one
Choose Metalsmith if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Metalsmith or Pelican better?
Neither is universally better. Pelican has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Metalsmith and Pelican free and open-source?
Yes. Metalsmith is licensed under MIT and Pelican under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Metalsmith and Pelican with Docker?
Metalsmith: check the project docs for container support. Pelican: check the project docs for container support.