head to head · open source
halo vs Instatic
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Instatic has 8,691 stars, 802 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. halo leads on adoption by 358% (39,787 vs 8,691 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Instatic is written in TypeScript under MIT. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, Instatic 9%. 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 | Instatic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 802 |
| 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 Instatic if
- You want the Instatic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Instatic 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 Instatic
Instatic is an MIT licensed, TypeScript built visual CMS that lets designers, developers, and small teams self host their entire website stack — editor, content engine, and publisher — on a single Bun server and publish clean static pages.
read the full Instatic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or Instatic more popular?
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars and Instatic has 8,691. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and Instatic free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Instatic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and Instatic?
halo is written in Java and Instatic 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, halo or Instatic?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,787 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Instatic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.