# MkDocs vs Pelican

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** MkDocs

| Attribute | MkDocs | Pelican |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 57.4 (71% (medium)) | 48.3 (42% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | 12 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 18,004 | 3,322 |
| adoption.github_stars | 22,497 | 13,354 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 3,612,213 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A documentation platform that converts Markdown files into static HTML websites. It offers built-in themes, plugin support for extensions, and YAML-based configuration for easy customization. It is indexed under Documentation Tools.","source":"https://www.mkdocs.org","question":"What is MkDocs?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"MkDocs is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the BSD-2-Clause licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.mkdocs.org","question":"Is MkDocs free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"MkDocs supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.mkdocs.org","question":"What platforms does MkDocs support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. MkDocs can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.mkdocs.org","question":"Can MkDocs be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. MkDocs is published under the BSD-2-Clause licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs","question":"Is MkDocs open source?","confidence":0.67}]` | `[{"answer":"Create static websites from text files using Markdown, reStructuredText, or HTML without requiring a database or server-side logic. Customize your site's appearance using Jinja2-based themes. It is indexed under Static Site Generators.","source":"https://getpelican.com","question":"What is Pelican?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pelican is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://getpelican.com","question":"Is Pelican free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pelican supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://getpelican.com","question":"What platforms does Pelican support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Pelican can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://getpelican.com","question":"Can Pelican be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Pelican is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican","question":"Is Pelican open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A documentation platform that converts Markdown files into static HTML websites. It offers built-in themes, plugin support for extensions, and YAML-based configuration for easy customization. | A static site generator built with Python that converts text files in Markdown, reStructuredText, and HTML formats into complete websites, featuring fast rebuild times through content caching and plugin extensibility. |
| features.capabilities | `{"i18n":true,"kind":"static_generator","engine":"Python","authoring":"markdown","themeable":true,"build_model":"fully_static","api_reference":true,"self_hostable":true,"hosted_offering":false,"docs_specialised":true}` | `{"runtime":"python","build_model":"fully_static","incremental_builds":true}` |
| language.primary | Python | Python |
| license.spdx | BSD-2-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.mkdocs.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:11:13.960Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://getpelican.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T12:48:21.808Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 77 | 60 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.6.1","date":"2024-08-30T12:23:09Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.6.0","date":"2024-04-20T17:55:01Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.5.3","date":"2023-09-18T21:27:59Z","type":"stable","version":"1.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.5.2","date":"2023-08-02T14:54:19Z","type":"stable","version":"1.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.5.1","date":"2023-07-27T22:44:51Z","type":"stable","version":"1.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.5.0","date":"2023-07-26T20:39:53Z","type":"stable","version":"1.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.4.3","date":"2023-05-02T21:19:16Z","type":"stable","version":"1.4.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.4.2","date":"2022-11-01T18:34:14Z","type":"stable","version":"1.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.4.1","date":"2022-10-15T19:19:40Z","type":"stable","version":"1.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.4.0","date":"2022-09-27T17:38:06Z","type":"stable","version":"1.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.3.1","date":"2022-07-19T07:28:26Z","type":"stable","version":"1.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.3.0","date":"2022-03-26T19:55:09Z","type":"stable","version":"1.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.2.4","date":"2022-03-26T19:39:40Z","type":"stable","version":"1.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.2.3","date":"2021-10-12T21:59:03Z","type":"stable","version":"1.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/releases/tag/1.2.2","date":"2021-07-18T19:32:00Z","type":"stable","version":"1.2.2"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.12.0","date":"2026-04-20T15:29:57Z","type":"stable","version":"4.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.11.0","date":"2025-01-15T17:01:19Z","type":"stable","version":"4.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.10.2","date":"2024-11-27T19:53:33Z","type":"stable","version":"4.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.10.1","date":"2024-09-28T17:02:21Z","type":"stable","version":"4.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.10.0","date":"2024-09-16T13:38:16Z","type":"stable","version":"4.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.9.1","date":"2023-11-15T17:16:41Z","type":"stable","version":"4.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.9.0","date":"2023-11-12T17:45:08Z","type":"stable","version":"4.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.8.0","date":"2022-07-11T17:51:03Z","type":"stable","version":"4.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.7.2","date":"2022-02-09T13:25:54Z","type":"stable","version":"4.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.7.1","date":"2021-10-12T14:45:32Z","type":"stable","version":"4.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.7.0","date":"2021-10-01T14:10:29Z","type":"stable","version":"4.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.6.0","date":"2021-03-23T10:31:25Z","type":"stable","version":"4.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.5.4","date":"2021-01-04T16:16:24Z","type":"stable","version":"4.5.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.5.3","date":"2020-12-01T20:37:00Z","type":"stable","version":"4.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.5.2","date":"2020-11-22T16:16:36Z","type":"stable","version":"4.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.5.1","date":"2020-11-02T13:15:33Z","type":"stable","version":"4.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.5.0","date":"2020-08-20T17:38:02Z","type":"stable","version":"4.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.2.0","date":"2019-10-17T17:50:36Z","type":"stable","version":"4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.1.3","date":"2019-10-09T18:45:24Z","type":"stable","version":"4.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/getpelican/pelican/releases/tag/4.1.2","date":"2019-09-23T18:21:22Z","type":"stable","version":"4.1.2"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 4.1 | 4.4 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=mkdocs&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=pelican&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Static Site Generators)

| Capability | MkDocs | Pelican |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Runtime | - | Python |
| Build model | Fully static | Fully static |
| Incremental builds | - | ✓ |
| Islands partial hydration | - | - |
| I18n | ✓ | - |
| Image optimization | - | - |
| Docs specialised | ✓ | - |
| Plugin ecosystem size | - | - |
| Zero js by default | - | - |
| Mdx component embeds | - | - |
| Single binary no deps | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:22:39.878Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*