head to head · open source
halo vs nesta
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped today. nesta has 899 stars, 121 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. halo leads on adoption by 4,327% (39,797 vs 899 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; nesta is written in Ruby under MIT. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, nesta 13%. 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 | nesta | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 899 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-06-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 121 |
| 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 nesta if
- You want the nesta feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and nesta 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 nesta
File Based CMS and Static Site Generator Nesta is a lightweight CMS for building content sites and blogs, written in Ruby using the [Sinatra] web framework. Write your content in [Markdown] or [Textile], in your text editor (drop into HTML or Haml if you need more control) Files are stored in text files on your hard drive (there is no database) Publish changes by putting these files online (Git recommended, not required) Deploy either as a static site (SSG) or by rendering HTML on the server (SSR) [Sinatra]: "Sinatra" [Markdown]: [Textile]: Installation Begin by [installing Ruby], then the Nesta gem: $ gem instal…
read the full nesta overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or nesta more popular?
halo has 39,797 GitHub stars and nesta has 899. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and nesta free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and nesta under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and nesta?
halo is written in Java and nesta in Ruby. 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 nesta?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,797 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nesta if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.