Jekyll vs Publify
| Tagline | Transform plain text into static websites and blogs | Simple full-featured blogging platform built on Ruby on Rails |
| Category | Blogging & CMS | Blogging & CMS |
| Replaces | WordPress.com, Medium, Squarespace | WordPress.com, Medium, Substack |
| GitHub stars | 52k | 1.9k |
| Language | Ruby | Ruby |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 4/5 Involved |
| Deploy options | Manual Docker | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 1 month ago | 12 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Jekyll
- Ruby environment setup can be tricky on Windows
- No admin UI; all content management is via files
- Slower build times for very large sites compared to Hugo or Eleventy
Publify
- Development activity is slow; fewer updates compared to actively maintained blogging platforms
- No built-in newsletter or email subscriber functionality
- Themes and plugin ecosystem are very limited compared to WordPress
- Ruby on Rails stack is less common for hosting, increasing deployment friction
Bottom line
Choose Jekyll if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Jekyll for the larger community and ecosystem. Publify has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.