Self-hosted alternatives to Medium
Want blogging and publishing without handing your data to Medium? These 14 open-source apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | Actively maintained | 55.7k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| WriteFreely | Actively maintained | 5.3k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Ech0 | Actively maintained | 2.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Haven | Actively maintained | 813 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chyrp Lite | Actively maintained | 498 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Mataroa | Actively maintained | 375 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| bloglite | Actively maintained | 336 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HTMLy | Maintained | 1.4k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Known | Maintained | 1.1k | Apache-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Serendipity | Actively maintained | 229 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| FlatPress | Actively maintained | 218 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| PluXml | Maintained | 233 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Antville | Maintained | 90 | Apache-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Dotclear | Health unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Ghost
Just a blogging platform.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release v6.73.0 (2026-10-27). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. WriteFreely
Writing software for starting a minimalist, federated blog — or an entire community.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-09-28. Latest release v0.17.2 (2026-08-10). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
3. Ech0
Lightweight federated publishing platform focused on personal idea sharing (documentation in Chinese).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v5.9.1 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Haven
Private blogging system with markdown editing and built in RSS reader.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-03. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Chyrp Lite
Extra-awesome, extra-lightweight blog engine.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release v2026.03 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Mataroa
Naked blogging platform for minimalists.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.5 (2026-01-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. bloglite
Micro-blog tool offering built-in syntax highlighting, mobile publishing and more (alternative to Twitter, Bluesky).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release v3.1.0 (2026-10-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. HTMLy
Databaseless PHP blogging platform. A flat-file CMS that allows you to create a fast, secure, and powerful website or blog in seconds.
Maintained Last activity 2026-01-25. Latest release v3.1.1 (2025-11-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Known
Collaborative social publishing platform.
Maintained Last activity 2026-04-12. Latest release 1.6.4 (2026-03-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Serendipity
Highly extensible and customizable PHP blog engine using Smarty templating (s9y).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-09-12. Latest release 2.6.1 (2026-07-22). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. FlatPress
Lightweight, easy-to-set-up flat-file blogging engine.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release 1.5.1 (2026-03-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. PluXml
XML-based blog/CMS platform.
Maintained Last activity 2026-08-03. Latest release v5.10.0.rc4 (2026-09-12). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Antville
Feature-rich blog hosting software which can host tens of thousands of blogs.
Maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release 1.6.0 (2025-03-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. Dotclear
Take control over your blog.
Health unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Medium?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Actively maintained and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
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