head to head · open source
Strapi vs TinaCMS
Strapi has 73,184 GitHub stars, 9,875 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped yesterday. TinaCMS has 13,799 stars, 755 forks, 444 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 430% (73,184 vs 13,799 stars). Strapi is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; TinaCMS is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Strapi has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, TinaCMS 5%. Strapi 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
| Strapi | TinaCMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 755 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Strapi if
- You weight community size — 73K 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 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 Strapi
Strapi is an open source headless content management system built entirely in JavaScript and TypeScript. It provides a customizable admin dashboard and automatically generates REST and GraphQL APIs for any content structure defined through its visual Content Type Builder. Strapi lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and targets developers who need to deliver content to diverse frontends—including web, mobile, and IoT applications—without being locked into a specific presentation layer.
read the full Strapi overview →
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 Strapi or TinaCMS more popular?
Strapi has 73,184 GitHub stars and TinaCMS has 13,799. Strapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Strapi and TinaCMS free?
Both are open source. Strapi has no licence declared in this registry, and TinaCMS is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Strapi and TinaCMS?
Strapi is written in TypeScript 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, Strapi or TinaCMS?
Choose Strapi if you want the larger community (73,184 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose TinaCMS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.