Pelican 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 | Pelican | Zola |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,339 | ★ 17,463 |
| First released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Medium |
What are Pelican and Zola?
Pelican
Pelican is an open-source static site generator written in Python that builds blogs from Markdown or reStructuredText. It supports themes, plugins, and import from other blogging platforms.
- Markdown and reStructuredText
- Theme and plugin support
- Import from WordPress and others
- Atom and RSS feeds
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
Pelican vs Zola: key differences
Pelican is written in Python, while Zola is built with Rust. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Pelican versus MIT for Zola. Zola is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pelican. Pelican is the more established project (first released 2010), while Zola arrived in 2017.
Why pick each one
Choose Pelican if…
- Great for Python users
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Python environment needed
Choose Zola if…
- No toolchain to install
- Very fast
Watch out for
- No admin UI
- Smaller theme selection
Frequently asked questions
Is Pelican or Zola better?
Neither is universally better. Zola has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Pelican and Zola free and open-source?
Yes. Pelican is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Zola under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pelican and Zola with Docker?
Pelican: check the project docs for container support. Zola: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Pelican or Zola?
Zola has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pelican. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.