head to head · open source
halo vs Dnn.Platform
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped today. Dnn.Platform has 1,140 stars, 789 forks, 331 open issues and last shipped yesterday. halo leads on adoption by 3,391% (39,797 vs 1,140 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Dnn.Platform is written in C# under MIT. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, Dnn.Platform 69%. 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 | Dnn.Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 789 |
| 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 Dnn.Platform if
- You want the Dnn.Platform feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Dnn.Platform 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 Dnn.Platform
Project Description DNN® ( formerly DotNetNuke® ) is the leading open source web content management platform (CMS) in the Microsoft ecosystem. The product is used to build professional looking and easy to use commercial websites, social intranets, community portals, or partner extranets. Containing dynamic content of all types, DNN sites are easy to deploy and update. The DNN Platform has been downloaded more than 8 million times and powers over 750,000 websites globally. A community of more than 1 million members forms a powerful support network. Thousands of free and commercial extensions, apps, and skins are a…
read the full Dnn.Platform overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or Dnn.Platform more popular?
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars and Dnn.Platform has 1,140. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and Dnn.Platform free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Dnn.Platform under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and Dnn.Platform?
halo is written in Java and Dnn.Platform 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 Dnn.Platform?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,797 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Dnn.Platform if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.