head to head · open source
publify vs htmly
publify has 1,855 GitHub stars, 3,617 forks, 86 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. htmly has 1,368 stars, 306 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. publify leads on adoption by 36% (1,855 vs 1,368 stars). publify is written in Less under MIT; htmly is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. publify has attracted 195% as many forks as stars, htmly 22%. publify 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.
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Side by side
| publify | htmly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.9K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Less | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-10-26 | 2026-01-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 306 |
| 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 htmly if
- You want the htmly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and htmly 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 htmly
HTMLy is an open source databaseless blogging platform prioritizes simplicity and speed written in PHP. It uses a unique algorithm to find or list any content based on date, type, category, tag, or author, and it's performance remain fast even if we have ten thousand of posts and hundreds of tags. Requirements HTMLy requires PHP 7.2 or greater, PHP Mbstring, PHP XML, PHP INTL, PHP GD, and PHP ZIP package for backup feature. Installations Install HTMLy using the source code: 1. Download the latest version from the Github repo 2. Upload and extract the zip file to your web server. You can upload it in the root…
read the full htmly overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is publify or htmly more popular?
publify has 1,855 GitHub stars and htmly has 1,368. publify has the larger community by that measure.
Are publify and htmly free?
Both are open source. publify is licensed under MIT and htmly under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between publify and htmly?
publify is written in Less and htmly 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 htmly?
Choose publify if you want the larger community (1,855 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose htmly if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.