head to head · open source
cakephp vs moonshine
cakephp has 8,789 GitHub stars, 3,352 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped yesterday. moonshine has 1,305 stars, 151 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. cakephp leads on adoption by 573% (8,789 vs 1,305 stars). cakephp is written in PHP under MIT; moonshine is written in PHP under MIT. cakephp has attracted 38% as many forks as stars, moonshine 12%. cakephp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (form-builder, php), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| cakephp | moonshine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.8K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 151 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cakephp if
- You weight community size — 8.8K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick moonshine if
- You want the moonshine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and moonshine fits your workflow better
About cakephp
CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP which uses commonly known design patterns like Associative Data Mapping, Front Controller, and MVC. Our primary goal is to provide a structured framework that enables PHP users at all levels to rapidly develop robust web applications, without any loss to flexibility. Installing CakePHP via Composer You can install CakePHP into your project using Composer. If you're starting a new project, we recommend using the app skeleton as a starting point. For existing applications you can run the following: For details on the (minimum/maximum) PHP version see version map…
read the full cakephp overview →
About moonshine
MoonShine Simple for beginners and powerful for experts: Administration panel for Laravel framework Hello, developer! 👋 Tired of boring, cookie cutter, or overly complex admin panels? Meet MoonShine — the admin panel you’ll love at first sight (and first prompt). Imagine having: ✅ A developer friend who specializes in admin panels, understands you halfway through a sentence, and builds the functionality you need quickly. ✅ A layout designer and UI/UX expert who can change the colors and style of your admin panel in just a minute to match any brand. ✅ A smart architecture that works not only with Laravel but far…
read the full moonshine overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Forms & Surveys projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Forms & Surveys field.
Frequently asked questions
Is cakephp or moonshine more popular?
cakephp has 8,789 GitHub stars and moonshine has 1,305. cakephp has the larger community by that measure.
Are cakephp and moonshine free?
Both are open source. cakephp is licensed under MIT and moonshine under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between cakephp and moonshine?
cakephp is written in PHP and moonshine 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, cakephp or moonshine?
Choose cakephp if you want the larger community (8,789 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose moonshine if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.