head to head · open source
halo vs revolution
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. revolution has 1,409 stars, 527 forks, 687 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. halo leads on adoption by 2,724% (39,787 vs 1,409 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; revolution is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, revolution 37%. halo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (content-management-system), 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 | revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 527 |
| 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 revolution if
- You want the revolution feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and revolution 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 revolution
MODX Revolution is an open source content management system and application framework written in PHP. It lives in the MODX open source PHP CMS ecosystem and is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The project provides a downloadable PHP application that can be installed on a server, configured through MODX documentation, and extended through its modular core.
read the full revolution 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 revolution more popular?
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars and revolution has 1,409. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and revolution free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and revolution under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and revolution?
halo is written in Java and revolution in PHP. 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 revolution?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,787 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose revolution if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.