pelican
Static site generator supporting Markdown and reStructuredText
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Pelican is a mature, actively maintained static site generator with low installation friction and no known vulnerabilities. It is well-suited for anyone building a blog, documentation site, or portfolio that benefits from version control and simple hosting. The AGPLv3 license is not a barrier for typical personal or private use but should be reviewed if you plan to distribute modified versions.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.11 or later; content files must be in a recognized format (Markdown, reStructuredText, or HTML).
- Installation is straightforward with low friction; the package is actively maintained with a recent release and runs on modern Python versions (3.11–3.14).
- The dependency footprint is modest at 11 runtime packages, all commonly used libraries.
License · maintenance · safety
AGPLv3 (agpl) — Pelican is licensed under AGPLv3, which requires that any derivative work or network-accessible modifications be released under the same license. This is permissive for personal or private use but imposes copyleft obligations if you distribute or host modified versions.
last release 2026-04-20 (116 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-20 · 13,331 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 99,468 downloads/mo, #13,020 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pelican
from pelican import Pelican
from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG
settings = DEFAULT_CONFIG.copy()
pelican = Pelican(settings)
pelican.run()- Whether the package includes built-in theme templates or requires separate installation.
- Performance characteristics for sites with large numbers of articles or pages.
- Extent of plugin ecosystem and ease of writing custom plugins.
What it is and what it does
Pelican is a Python-based static site generator that reads content from text files—Markdown, reStructuredText, or HTML—and compiles them into a complete, static website. It handles the typical workflow of a content site: organizing articles chronologically, generating RSS and Atom feeds, applying themes via Jinja2 templates, and syntax-highlighting code blocks with Pygments. The output is pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that can be hosted anywhere without a database or application server.
The package is built for bloggers, documentation authors, and anyone who wants to version-control their content and host it simply. It includes features like multi-language support, theme customization, and a plugin system for extending functionality. Rebuild times are kept fast through caching and selective output writing, making the edit-preview cycle practical for iterative work.
Use it for
- Build a personal blog or portfolio site from Markdown files, version-controlled in Git.
- Generate static documentation sites that can be hosted on any web server or CDN.
- Migrate content from WordPress or other platforms and maintain it as plain text.
- Create a multi-language site with separate content trees compiled to a single output.
- Publish an RSS feed alongside your site, automatically updated from your content.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Pelican is a mature, actively maintained static site generator with low installation friction and no known vulnerabilities. It is well-suited for anyone building a blog, documentation site, or portfolio that benefits from version control and simple hosting. The AGPLv3 license is not a barrier for typical personal or private use but should be reviewed if you plan to distribute modified versions.
Install
pelican on PyPI
Before you install
Installation is straightforward with low friction; the package is actively maintained with a recent release and runs on modern Python versions (3.11–3.14). The dependency footprint is modest at 11 runtime packages, all commonly used libraries.
Requires Python 3.11 or later; content files must be in a recognized format (Markdown, reStructuredText, or HTML).
License in practice
Pelican is licensed under AGPLv3, which requires that any derivative work or network-accessible modifications be released under the same license. This is permissive for personal or private use but imposes copyleft obligations if you distribute or host modified versions.
Quickstart
pip install pelican
from pelican import Pelican
from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG
settings = DEFAULT_CONFIG.copy()
pelican = Pelican(settings)
pelican.run()Verify before relying
- Whether the package includes built-in theme templates or requires separate installation.
- Performance characteristics for sites with large numbers of articles or pages.
- Extent of plugin ecosystem and ease of writing custom plugins.
Package facts
| License | AGPLv3 agpl |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.11 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 11 packagesblinkerdocutilsfeedgeneratorjinja2ordered-setpygmentspython-dateutilrichunidecodewatchfilestzdata |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 116 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 99,468 / month, #13,020 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleFramework :: PelicanIntended Audience :: End Users/DesktopLicense :: OSI Approved :: GNU Affero General Public License v3 or later (AGPLv3+)Operating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonTopic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Dynamic Content :: Content Management SystemTopic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Site ManagementTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Text Processing :: Markup :: HTMLTopic :: Text Processing :: Markup :: MarkdownTopic :: Text Processing :: Markup :: reStructuredText |
Evidence: pelican-4.12.0-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “static site generator”
- pelicanPelican is a static site generator that converts text files in…
- zensicalZensical is a static site generator that converts Markdown…
- mkdocsMkDocs generates static HTML documentation sites from Markdown source…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Python Modules packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
PyYAML parses and emits YAML 1.1 data format, enabling serialization and deserialization of configuration files and Python objects to and from human-readable YAML text.
Pydantic validates Python data structures against type hints, coercing and checking input at runtime to ensure it matches a declared schema.
Provides reusable metadata objects for use with PEP-593 `typing.Annotated` to express common constraints like bounds, collection sizes, and predicates on types.
Install it if you use or build libraries that need to express type constraints in a standardized, inspectable way—or if you want to annotate your own types with…
Provides runtime tools to inspect and introspect Python type annotations, enabling programmatic examination of type hints at execution time.
See also Sphinx · zensical · feedgen · mkdocs · properdocs · docstring-to-markdown · Products.CMFPlone · docutils · m2r2 · pagefind-bin