GitHub Pages

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to GitHub Pages

A curated collection of the 5 best self hosted alternatives to GitHub Pages.

Static site hosting service that publishes websites directly from a GitHub repository, supporting user/organization and project sites, Jekyll processing, custom domains, theme selection, and automatic deployment triggered by git pushes.

Alternatives List

#1
DOCAT

DOCAT

Open-source server for hosting multiple static documentation projects with versioning, CLI upload, tagging and built-in search.

DOCAT is a lightweight server for hosting static documentation projects (MkDocs, Sphinx, mdBook, etc.) and multiple versions of those projects. It provides a simple HTTP API and a companion CLI to push, tag and serve documented sites from a single instance.

Key Features

  • Host multiple documentation projects with multiple versions and per-version tagging (e.g., latest).
  • Push documentation archives via an HTTP API or the provided CLI tool (docatl) for CI/CD integration.
  • Built-in static file serving with a web frontend and full-text search for hosted docs.
  • Docker-first distribution (container image) and Dockerfile for easy deployment and updates.
  • Frontend is configurable via a simple JSON config (header/footer HTML) and supports serving static files from a mounted volume.
  • Simple project claiming and token-based control for modification actions; README recommends protecting write endpoints (e.g., HTTP basic auth).
  • Designed to be minimal and easy to operate: focuses on hosting and versioning only, not authoring.

Use Cases

  • Host internal or public product documentation with versioned releases for software teams.
  • Integrate documentation publishing into CI pipelines to automatically deploy new versions of docs.
  • Provide a single, self-hosted docs portal for multiple projects where users can switch between released versions.

Limitations and Considerations

  • By default the server allows unauthenticated uploads and modifications until a project is claimed; administrators should secure the API (README recommends HTTP basic auth for POST/PUT/DELETE).
  • DOCAT is a host for static documentation only — it does not provide authoring, rendering pipelines, or dynamic content generation.
  • There is limited built-in access control and no advanced role-based permissions; for public deployments additional reverse-proxy authentication or network controls are recommended.

DOCAT is a focused, pragmatic tool for teams that need a simple, versioned documentation host with easy CI integration. It emphasizes ease of deployment and minimal configuration while leaving authoring and build workflows to established static documentation tools.

879stars
51forks
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#2
Chyrp Lite

Chyrp Lite

Minimal, accessible PHP blogging engine with Twig themes, modular Feathers and modules for media, tags, comments, and simple caching. Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.

Chyrp Lite screenshot

Chyrp Lite is a minimal, responsive blogging engine written in PHP designed for simple self-hosted blogs and small publishing sites. It provides a lightweight core with an extensible system of "Feathers" (content types) and modules to add functionality without heavy complexity.

Key Features

  • Lightweight PHP core with a responsive, accessible HTML5 frontend and Twig templating for easy theme development
  • Support for multiple content Feathers: text, photo, quote, link, video, audio, and multi-file uploader
  • Bundled modules for tagging, categories, comments, likes, caching, sitemap generation, post views, and webmention handling
  • Supports plain text, Markdown, or raw markup entry formats and syntax highlighting for code snippets
  • Database-agnostic using PDO with support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite
  • Simple administration console and rights model for user and visitor management
  • Docker-compatible deployment with example docker-compose configuration for quick setup

Use Cases

  • Run a minimal personal blog or tumbleblog with fast, low-overhead hosting requirements
  • Publish a small multimedia site using Feathers for images, audio, and video without a heavy CMS
  • Build a highly customizable simple publishing platform by extending functionality with modules and custom Twig themes

Limitations and Considerations

  • Not intended for very high-traffic or enterprise-scale sites out of the box; heavy scaling requires external caching, reverse proxies, or infrastructure changes
  • Smaller module/ecosystem compared to major CMS platforms; advanced plugins and integrations may be limited
  • No built-in federation or ActivityPub support; webmention support is available but federated social features are absent
  • Requires PHP 8.1+ and common extensions (mbstring, PDO, cURL), and administrators should secure installer/upgrade scripts after use

Chyrp Lite is suitable for users who want a small, standards-focused blogging engine that is easy to inspect and customize. Its modular design and Twig-based themes make it straightforward to adapt for simple personal or small-site publishing needs.

473stars
59forks
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#3
Serendipity

Serendipity

Serendipity is a PHP-powered weblog engine offering a lightweight blog platform with plugins, themes, media library, comments, and multi-database support.

Serendipity screenshot

Serendipity is a PHP-based weblog engine that provides a lightweight, extensible platform for running blogs and small CMS-style sites. It offers a plugin-driven architecture and theme system to extend functionality and customize presentation while supporting multiple database backends.

Key Features

  • Plugin architecture with a backend plugin manager for installing and configuring extensions
  • Theme system with support for custom themes and template-driven layouts
  • Media library for uploading and embedding images, videos, and other files
  • Built-in editor for creating posts plus support for markup plugins (Markdown, Textile)
  • Integrated anti-spam measures and comment handling (trackbacks/pingbacks supported)
  • Supports MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite as storage backends
  • Server-side PHP stack designed to run on typical LAMP-style hosting (PHP 8+ recommended)

Use Cases

  • Personal or hobbyist blogs that need a simple, extensible publishing platform
  • Small business or project sites that require blog/news functionality with custom themes
  • Multi-author blogs or lightweight CMS workflows using plugins for pages and content types

Limitations and Considerations

  • Primarily designed as a traditional PHP-rendered blog engine, not a headless CMS or modern SPA framework
  • Plugin ecosystem and community are smaller than larger projects, so some integrations may be limited or require manual maintenance
  • Requires a PHP hosting environment and typical LAMP-style components; advanced hosting stacks may need extra configuration

Serendipity is suited for users who want a dependable, PHP-native blogging engine with extensibility through plugins and themes. It balances simplicity for casual bloggers with enough flexibility for professional and multi-author sites.

219stars
93forks
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#4
FlatPress

FlatPress

File-based PHP blogging engine that requires no database. Provides Smarty-powered themes, a plugin/widget system, comments with spam protection, and easy backups.

FlatPress screenshot

FlatPress is a lightweight, file-based blogging engine written in PHP. It provides a simple, standards-compliant blog platform that runs on common web servers without requiring a database, making setup and backups straightforward.

Key Features

  • Stores all content in files (no database required), simplifying backups and portability
  • Themes powered by the Smarty templating engine for easy customization
  • Extensible plugin system with widget support for adding functionality
  • Built-in comments support with basic spam protection
  • Multilingual support and a mature plugin/theme ecosystem maintained by the community
  • Compatible with common web servers (e.g., Apache, NGINX, IIS) and PHP 7.1–8.4
  • Small footprint and low operational complexity, suitable for simple hosting environments

Use Cases

  • Personal or hobby blogs where simplicity and easy backups are priorities
  • Small websites or documentation sites that do not require a database backend
  • Teaching or prototyping environments to demonstrate PHP templating and plugin development

Limitations and Considerations

  • File-based storage can limit scalability and performance on very high-traffic sites compared to database-backed CMSs
  • Advanced CMS features (fine-grained user roles, complex content types, large-site optimization) are limited or require plugins
  • Plugin quality and availability may vary; some customizations require PHP/Smarty knowledge

FlatPress is a mature, minimal blogging platform that favors simplicity and portability over enterprise features. It is well suited for low- to moderate-traffic blogs and sites where ease of setup and file-based backups are important.

209stars
63forks
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#5
StencilBox

StencilBox

Generate fast static sites and link homepages from YAML using templates. Offers multiple build configs, an admin UI, and static output for ultra-fast pages.

StencilBox is a lightweight static site generator focused on turning structured data into simple, high-performance sites. It renders YAML data through sleek templates and produces static output optimized for fast browser load times.

Key Features

  • YAML-driven data model: content and pages are defined as structured YAML files rather than Markdown
  • Multiple build configs: build and manage multiple independent sites from a single installation
  • Web/admin UI and CLI-friendly workflow for managing builds and templates
  • Ships with reusable templates for homepages, sidebars, status pages and similar patterns
  • Static site generation with optimized assets for extremely fast client-side performance
  • Container and build tooling provided (Dockerfile, Makefile) for easy deployment and automation

Use Cases

  • Personal homepage or startpage of links and resources driven from a single YAML file
  • Team or service status pages and simple dashboards generated from structured data
  • Provide non-technical users a simple YAML-based workflow to create repeatable static pages without complex toolchains

Limitations and Considerations

  • Does not support Markdown content currently; it is designed for data-driven pages rather than long-form blogs
  • Not intended as a full CMS or for large, content-heavy publishing sites; feature set is optimized for simple, static outputs
  • Theming and template customization are available but more limited compared to heavyweight static site ecosystems

StencilBox is suited for users who need very fast, data-driven static pages and simple multi-site workflows. It prioritizes simplicity, predictable builds, and minimal runtime complexity for self-hosted startpages and small static sites.

66stars
0forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running