head to head · open source
halo vs Marble CMS
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Marble CMS has 385 stars, 55 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. halo leads on adoption by 10,234% (39,787 vs 385 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Marble CMS is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, Marble CMS 14%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| halo | Marble CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 385 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 55 |
| 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 Marble CMS if
- You want the Marble CMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Marble CMS 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 Marble CMS
Marble CMS is a headless content management system written in TypeScript and released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. Its repository carries the description "Super simple headless CMS", and its tagline positions it as simple content management for modern sites. The project sits in the TypeScript and JavaScript ecosystem and is filed under Content & Publishing, specifically the Content Management Systems category. It carries topics covering cms, cms backend, cms framework, headless, headless cms, and marble, with a homepage at marblecms.com and a Discord community alongside a Twitter account. The…
read the full Marble CMS overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Content Management Systems (CMS) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Content Management Systems (CMS) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is halo or Marble CMS more popular?
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars and Marble CMS has 385. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and Marble CMS free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Marble CMS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and Marble CMS?
halo is written in Java and Marble CMS 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 Marble CMS?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,787 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Marble CMS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.