head to head · open source
decap-cms vs TinaCMS
decap-cms has 19,386 GitHub stars, 3,129 forks, 593 open issues and last shipped yesterday. TinaCMS has 13,799 stars, 755 forks, 444 open issues and last shipped yesterday. decap-cms leads on adoption by 40% (19,386 vs 13,799 stars). decap-cms is written in JavaScript under MIT; TinaCMS is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. decap-cms has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, TinaCMS 5%. decap-cms was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cms, content-management-system, react), 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.
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Side by side
| decap-cms | TinaCMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 755 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick decap-cms if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick TinaCMS if
- You want the TinaCMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and TinaCMS fits your workflow better
About decap-cms
Decap CMS is a Git based content management system for static site generators, distributed as an npm package and released under the MIT License. It is a single page application that a site owner pulls into the /admin part of an existing site, where it presents a clean interface for editing content stored in a Git repository. The project lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is built with React, and it is the software formerly known as Netlify CMS, renamed in February 2023. It carries the jamstack , headless cms , git based cms , and static site generator topics, and its documentation lives at decapcms.org.…
read the full decap-cms overview →
About TinaCMS
TinaCMS is an open source headless content management system for Git based content stored in a user's own GitHub repository. It lives in the TypeScript, React, and Next.js ecosystem and is categorized under Content & Publishing / Content Management Systems. It supports Markdown, MDX, JSON, YAML, and other content formats, with visual editing as a central feature.
read the full TinaCMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is decap-cms or TinaCMS more popular?
decap-cms has 19,386 GitHub stars and TinaCMS has 13,799. decap-cms has the larger community by that measure.
Are decap-cms and TinaCMS free?
Both are open source. decap-cms is licensed under MIT and TinaCMS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between decap-cms and TinaCMS?
decap-cms is written in JavaScript and TinaCMS in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, decap-cms or TinaCMS?
Choose decap-cms if you want the larger community (19,386 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose TinaCMS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.