head to head · open source
halo vs Ghost-CLI
halo has 39,961 GitHub stars, 10,319 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ghost-CLI has 500 stars, 239 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. halo leads on adoption by 7,892% (39,961 vs 500 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Ghost-CLI is written in JavaScript under MIT. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, Ghost-CLI 48%. 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 | Ghost-CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 500 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 239 |
| 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 Ghost-CLI if
- You want the Ghost-CLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Ghost-CLI fits your workflow better
About halo
Halo [ˈheɪloʊ]，强大易用的开源建站工具。 官网 文档 社区 Gitee Telegram 频道 Halo 是什么？ Halo 是一款强大易用的开源建站工具，从个人博客、知识库，到企业官网、在线商城，Halo 都能助您轻松实现，一站式满足您的多样化建站需求。 快速开始 如果你的设备有 Docker 环境，可以使用以下命令快速启动一个 Halo 的体验环境： 以上方式仅作为体验使用，推荐使用开源 Linux 服务器运维管理面板 1Panel 进行部署（查看文档），轻松搞定反向代理、SSL 证书及升级备份任务。更多部署方式，请查看文档。 在线体验 环境地址： 后台地址： 用户名： demo 密码： P@ssw0rd123.. 版本对比 Halo 社区版 ：开源免费， 遵循 GPLv3 协议 [x] 适合个人开发者、技术爱好者、开源项目 [x] 零成本搭建博客、作品集、技术文档站 [x] 超过 100 款免费主题和插件 Halo 专业版 ：在社区版基础上，集成 10+ 高价值功能 [x] 移动端 APP：随时随地管理内容 [x] AI 智能建站：快速生成专业站点 [x] 手机号验证登录：提升安全与用户体验 [x] 全站私有化部署：保障数据主权 [x] 付费主题/插件市场：专享精品主题和 SEO 优化、付费阅读、AI 助手等 10 款付费插件 Halo 商城版 ：在专业版基础上，集成在线商城重磅功能 [x]…
About Ghost-CLI
Ghost CLI Basic Setup npm install g ghost cli@latest ghost install (for a production linux setup, including Nginx, SSL, and Systemd) ghost install local (for a local setup, useful for theme development/testing) NOTE: This CLI is not designed to work with any Ghost versions /Ghost CLI path/to/your/workspace 3. cd path/to/your/workspace 4. pnpm install To run the CLI for testing: pnpm link ghost (can run anywhere on the system) Running tests Publishing a new version Releases are cut from the Release workflow. Run it from main and pick a bump type: auto (default) — minor if there are ✨ commits since the last…
read the full Ghost-CLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or Ghost-CLI more popular?
halo has 39,961 GitHub stars and Ghost-CLI has 500. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and Ghost-CLI free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Ghost-CLI under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and Ghost-CLI?
halo is written in Java and Ghost-CLI in JavaScript. 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 Ghost-CLI?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,961 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Ghost-CLI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.