head to head · open source
halo vs TinaCMS
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars, 10,329 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. TinaCMS has 13,799 stars, 755 forks, 444 open issues and last shipped yesterday. halo leads on adoption by 188% (39,787 vs 13,799 stars). halo is written in Java under GPL-3.0; TinaCMS is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. halo has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, TinaCMS 5%. halo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (cms, 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.
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Side by side
| halo | TinaCMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 755 |
| 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 TinaCMS if
- You want the TinaCMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and TinaCMS 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 TinaCMS
TinaCMS is an open source headless content management system for Git based content stored in a user's own GitHub repository. It lives in the TypeScript, React, and Next.js ecosystem and is categorized under Content & Publishing / Content Management Systems. It supports Markdown, MDX, JSON, YAML, and other content formats, with visual editing as a central feature.
read the full TinaCMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is halo or TinaCMS more popular?
halo has 39,787 GitHub stars and TinaCMS has 13,799. halo has the larger community by that measure.
Are halo and TinaCMS free?
Both are open source. halo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and TinaCMS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between halo and TinaCMS?
halo is written in Java and TinaCMS 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 TinaCMS?
Choose halo if you want the larger community (39,787 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose TinaCMS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.