Middleman vs Publii
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?
Middleman
Ruby static site generator with modern tooling
VS
Publii
Desktop CMS for building static blogs and sites
| Feature | Middleman | Publii |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,113 | ★ 7,282 |
| First released | 2009 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, WordPress | WordPress, Squarespace |
Why pick each one
Choose Middleman if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Middleman or Publii better?
Publii is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Middleman if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Middleman and Publii free and open-source?
Yes. Middleman is licensed under MIT and Publii under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Middleman and Publii with Docker?
Middleman: check the project docs for container support. Publii: check the project docs for container support.