Pencil vs VuePress
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?
Pencil
Static site generator library built in Haskell
VS
VuePress
Vue-powered static site and documentation generator
| Feature | Pencil | VuePress |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Haskell | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5 | ★ 2,827 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Jekyll | Jekyll, GitBook |
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 VuePress if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Pencil or VuePress better?
VuePress is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pencil if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pencil and VuePress free and open-source?
Yes. Pencil is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and VuePress under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pencil and VuePress with Docker?
Pencil: check the project docs for container support. VuePress: check the project docs for container support.