head to head · open source
publify vs chyrp-lite
publify has 1,854 GitHub stars, 3,617 forks, 86 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. chyrp-lite has 500 stars, 70 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. publify leads on adoption by 271% (1,854 vs 500 stars). publify is written in Less under MIT; chyrp-lite is written in PHP under BSD-3-Clause. publify has attracted 195% as many forks as stars, chyrp-lite 14%. chyrp-lite was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (blog-engine), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| publify | chyrp-lite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.9K | ★ 500 |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Less | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-10-26 | 2026-11-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 70 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick publify if
- You weight community size — 1.9K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Less
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chyrp-lite if
- You want the chyrp-lite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and chyrp-lite fits your workflow better
About publify
Publify The Ruby on Rails publishing software formerly known as Typo What's Publify? Publify is a simple but full featured web publishing software. It's built around a blogging engine and a small message system connected to Twitter. Publify follows the principles of the IndieWeb, which are self hosting your Web site, and Publish On your Own Site, Syndicate Everywhere. Publify has been around since 2004 and is the oldest Ruby on Rails open source project alive. Features A classic multi user blogging engine Short messages with a Twitter connection Text filters (Markdown, SmartyPants, @mention to link, hashtag to…
read the full publify overview →
About chyrp-lite
English, Deutsch, Italiano, 한국인, Nederlands, Polski, 简体中文. What can Chyrp Lite do for me? Chyrp Lite makes it possible to host a blog on your own web server with minimal fuss. You can have a traditional blog, a tumbleblog, or you can add oodles of customisation and build a general purpose web publishing platform with blogging features on the side. You get six beautiful blog themes and a friendly administration console, all fully navigable on a broad range of devices, thanks to the power of responsive HTML5. Semantic markup and comprehensive ARIA labelling ensure your blog will be accessible to visitors who use…
read the full chyrp-lite overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Blogging & Personal Sites projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Blogging & Personal Sites field.
Frequently asked questions
Is publify or chyrp-lite more popular?
publify has 1,854 GitHub stars and chyrp-lite has 500. publify has the larger community by that measure.
Are publify and chyrp-lite free?
Both are open source. publify is licensed under MIT and chyrp-lite under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between publify and chyrp-lite?
publify is written in Less and chyrp-lite in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, publify or chyrp-lite?
Choose publify if you want the larger community (1,854 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose chyrp-lite if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.