head to head · open source
halo vs cofoundry
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped today. cofoundry has 902 stars, 168 forks, 115 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. halo leads on adoption by 4,312% (39,797 vs 902 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; cofoundry is written in C# under MIT. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, cofoundry 19%. halo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cms), 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
| halo | cofoundry | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 902 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-02-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 168 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick halo if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cofoundry if
- You want the cofoundry feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and cofoundry fits your workflow better
About halo
Halo is an open source, Java based website building tool licensed under GPL 3.0 that lets individuals and teams publish and run a blog, knowledge base, corporate website, or online store from infrastructure they control.
About cofoundry
Cofoundry is an open source .NET CMS and application framework focusing on: Code first development Unobtrusive integration into your application Extensible & flexible architecture Simple & user friendly content management Getting Started Find out more at Cofoundry.org or head to the docs to get started. Feedback & Community If you have a technical question or issue, please either: Submit an issue To keep updated: Follow us on BlueSky Follow our blog To give informal feedback or talk more generally about the project: Contact us directly Roadmap For up to date information on what's going into up coming releases che…
read the full cofoundry overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or cofoundry more popular?
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars and cofoundry has 902. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and cofoundry free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and cofoundry under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and cofoundry?
halo is written in Java and cofoundry in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, halo or cofoundry?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,797 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose cofoundry if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.