head to head · open source
Cinny vs helm-secrets
Cinny has 3,897 GitHub stars, 578 forks, 354 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. helm-secrets has 2,029 stars, 154 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. Cinny leads on adoption by 92% (3,897 vs 2,029 stars). Cinny is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; helm-secrets is written in Shell under Apache-2.0. Cinny has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, helm-secrets 8%. Cinny was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Cinny | helm-secrets | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 578 | ⑂ 154 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Cinny if
- You weight community size — 3.9K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick helm-secrets if
- You want the helm-secrets feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and helm-secrets fits your workflow better
About Cinny
Cinny is an open source Matrix client written in TypeScript under AGPL 3.0. It lives in the Matrix ecosystem and is presented as "yet another matrix client," focusing on a simple, elegant, and secure interface. Its stated goal is an instant messaging application that is easy for people and has a modern touch.
read the full Cinny overview →
About helm-secrets
helm secrets is a Helm plugin that decrypts encrypted Helm value files on the fly, built for teams that keep Kubernetes secrets in Git or a cloud native secret manager and deploy charts with Helm or a GitOps operator such as ArgoCD.
read the full helm-secrets overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Cinny or helm-secrets more popular?
Cinny has 3,897 GitHub stars and helm-secrets has 2,029. Cinny has the larger community by that measure.
Are Cinny and helm-secrets free?
Both are open source. Cinny is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and helm-secrets under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Cinny and helm-secrets?
Cinny is written in TypeScript and helm-secrets in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Cinny or helm-secrets?
Choose Cinny if you want the larger community (3,897 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose helm-secrets if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.