Pencil vs Publ
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted blogging platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Pencil | Publ |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 69 · Good |
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Haskell | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5 | ★ 41 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | WordPress, Jekyll |
What are Pencil and Publ?
Pencil
Pencil is a static site generator library and tool written in Haskell that compiles Markdown and templates into a static website. It gives developers a programmatic way to define site structure and content transformations.
- Haskell library API
- Markdown rendering
- Template inheritance
- Static output
Publ
Publ is a Python content management and blogging engine that publishes content directly from files in a directory tree. It supports image galleries, Markdown content, and templated layouts without a separate database for content.
- File-based content publishing
- Built-in image gallery support
- Markdown and template driven
- No content database required
Pencil vs Publ: key differences
Pencil is written in Haskell, while Publ is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Pencil versus MIT for Publ. Pencil is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Publ. Publ has the considerably larger community, at 41 GitHub stars versus 5.
Why pick each one
Choose Pencil if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in Haskell
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Publ if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Pencil or Publ better?
Publ is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Pencil if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pencil and Publ free and open-source?
Yes. Pencil is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Publ under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pencil and Publ with Docker?
Pencil: check the project docs for container support. Publ: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Pencil or Publ?
Pencil has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Publ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.