Orchid vs Soupault
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Orchid | Soupault |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 64 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Kotlin | OCaml |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 529 | ★ 430 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Jekyll, GitBook | Jekyll, Hugo |
What are Orchid and Soupault?
Orchid
Orchid is a powerful and extensible static site generator built on the JVM that targets project documentation, wikis, and personal blogs. It bundles plugins for changelogs, presentations, and search.
- Plugin-driven generation
- Documentation themes
- Built-in search
- JVM ecosystem
Soupault
Soupault is a static website generator and HTML processor that manipulates the page DOM directly rather than relying on a templating language. It can build new sites or post-process existing static sites.
- DOM-based processing
- Lua plugin support
- Single-binary tool
- Works on existing sites
Orchid vs Soupault: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Orchid's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Soupault is actively maintained. Orchid is written in Kotlin, while Soupault is built with OCaml. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for Orchid versus MIT for Soupault. Soupault is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Orchid. Orchid is the more established project (first released 2017), while Soupault arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Orchid if…
- Released under the LGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Kotlin
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Soupault if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in OCaml
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Orchid or Soupault better?
Neither is universally better. Orchid has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Orchid and Soupault free and open-source?
Yes. Orchid is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Soupault under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Orchid and Soupault with Docker?
Orchid: check the project docs for container support. Soupault: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Orchid or Soupault?
Soupault has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Orchid. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.