head to head · open source
Shelf vs cdxgen
Shelf has 3,049 GitHub stars, 384 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cdxgen has 1,102 stars, 268 forks, 420 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shelf leads on adoption by 177% (3,049 vs 1,102 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; cdxgen is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. Shelf has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, cdxgen 24%. cdxgen was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Shelf | cdxgen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 384 | ⑂ 268 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shelf if
- You weight community size — 3.0K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cdxgen if
- You want the cdxgen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and cdxgen fits your workflow better
About Shelf
Open source asset management infrastructure for everyone. Website · Documentation · Discord · Twitter Shelf is a platform for tracking physical assets — equipment, devices, tools, vehicles, props, inventory. It's built for teams that need to know what they have, where it is, and who's using it. Organizations use Shelf to manage thousands of assets across locations with role based access for their teams. Features QR asset tags — Generate and print QR codes. Scan with any phone to view, check out, or report an asset. Bookings and reservations — Schedule equipment, prevent double bookings, set…
read the full Shelf overview →
About cdxgen
[![JSR][badge jsr]][jsr cdxgen] [![NPM][badge npm]][npmjs cdxgen] [![GitHub Releases][badge github releases]][github releases] [![NPM Downloads][badge npm downloads]][npmjs cdxgen] [![GitHub License][badge github license]][github license] [![GitHub Contributors][badge github contributors]][github contributors] [![SWH][badge swh]][swh cdxgen] CycloneDX Generator (cdxgen) cdxgen is a CLI tool, library, REPL, and server to create, validate, sign, and verify software BOMs. It generates CycloneDX JSON BOMs and supports SPDX 3.0.1 JSON LD export. CycloneDX is a full stack BOM specification that is easily created…
read the full cdxgen overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or cdxgen more popular?
Shelf has 3,049 GitHub stars and cdxgen has 1,102. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and cdxgen free?
Both are open source. Shelf has no licence declared in this registry, and cdxgen is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Shelf and cdxgen?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and cdxgen in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Shelf or cdxgen?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,049 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose cdxgen if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.