head to head · open source
Strapi vs TinaCMS
Strapi has 73,422 GitHub stars, 10,044 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. TinaCMS has 13,861 stars, 772 forks, 444 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 430% (73,422 vs 13,861 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 14% as many forks as stars, TinaCMS 6%. TinaCMS 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 | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 772 |
| 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
Open source headless CMS, self hosted or Cloud you're in control. The leading open source headless CMS, 100% JavaScript/TypeScript, flexible and fully customizable. Docs · Strapi Cloud · Roadmap · Discord · Discussions Strapi is an open source, self hosted headless CMS that lets developers build content APIs fast while giving content creators a friendly editing interface. Define your content models and Strapi generates a full API, ready to consume from any frontend, mobile app, or IoT device. Design content structures visually with the Content Type Builder , no code required Auto generated REST & GraphQL APIs…
read the full Strapi overview →
About TinaCMS
Tina is a headless content management system with support for Markdown , MDX, JSON, YAML, and more. It comes with a GraphQL API: Query your Markdown content like this 👉 post.author.firstName Supports statically generated and server side rendered pages Supports references between documents Tina offers a live preview (optional and opt in) that makes editing Markdown files very intuitive for less technical people. Getting Started Test a TinaCMS starter site locally Or try a demo site on TinaCloud. Documentation Visit Tina's documentation to learn more. Questions? Visit the GitHub Discussions or our Community…
read the full TinaCMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Strapi or TinaCMS more popular?
Strapi has 73,422 GitHub stars and TinaCMS has 13,861. 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 (73,422 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.