head to head · open source
Shelf vs cmms
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars, 367 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cmms has 777 stars, 226 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Shelf leads on adoption by 288% (3,014 vs 777 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; cmms is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Shelf has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, cmms 29%. Shelf was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (asset-management), 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
| Shelf | cmms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 777 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 367 | ⑂ 226 |
| 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 AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cmms if
- You want the cmms 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 cmms fits your workflow better
About Shelf
Shelf is a free, open source platform for tracking physical assets, including equipment, devices, tools, vehicles, props, and inventory. It is built for teams that need to know what they have, where it is, and who is using it. The project sits in the IT asset management, equipment management, scheduling, and operations software ecosystem.
read the full Shelf overview →
About cmms
Atlas CMMS is a self hosted computerized maintenance management system written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It provides a web application and a mobile application for managing maintenance work, equipment, inventory, locations, and service requests. The project lives in the open source business software and ERP operations ecosystem, and it is deployed with Docker.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or cmms more popular?
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars and cmms has 777. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and cmms free?
Both are open source. Shelf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and cmms under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shelf and cmms?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and cmms 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, Shelf or cmms?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,014 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose cmms if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.