Serendipity vs Zola
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?
Serendipity
PHP-powered weblog application with strong spam control
VS
Zola
Fast static site engine in a single binary
| Feature | Serendipity | Zola |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blogging Platforms | Blogging Platforms |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 226 | ★ 17,308 |
| First released | 2003 | 2017 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Blogger | WordPress, Medium |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Serendipity or Zola better?
Neither is universally better. Zola has the larger community, while Serendipity is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Serendipity and Zola free and open-source?
Yes. Serendipity is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Zola under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Serendipity and Zola with Docker?
Serendipity: yes. Zola: check the project docs for container support.