Cockpit Next vs Tina CMS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cockpit Next | Tina CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source, docker | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 747 | ★ 13,803 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Contentful, Strapi | Contentful, Sanity |
What are Cockpit Next and Tina CMS?
Cockpit Next
Cockpit Next is the rewritten generation of the Cockpit headless CMS, providing a content API, structured content management, and asset handling without dictating a presentation layer. It is designed to serve content to websites, apps, and other services.
- Headless content API
- Structured content models
- Asset manager
- Lightweight footprint
Tina CMS
Tina CMS is an open-source, Git-backed content management system that adds visual editing to web projects. Its self-hosted backend stores content in your repository and provides a live, in-context editing experience.
- Git-backed content
- Visual in-context editing
- GraphQL content API
- Markdown and JSON support
Cockpit Next vs Tina CMS: key differences
Cockpit Next is written in PHP, while Tina CMS is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Cockpit Next versus Apache-2.0 for Tina CMS. Cockpit Next is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Tina CMS. Tina CMS has the considerably larger community, at 13,803 GitHub stars versus 747.
Why pick each one
Choose Cockpit Next if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Tina CMS if…
- Content lives in Git
- Visual editing for editors
- Works with static site frameworks
Watch out for
- React-focused
- Self-hosting setup effort
Frequently asked questions
Is Cockpit Next or Tina CMS better?
Neither is universally better. Tina CMS has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cockpit Next and Tina CMS free and open-source?
Yes. Cockpit Next is licensed under MIT and Tina CMS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cockpit Next and Tina CMS with Docker?
Cockpit Next: yes. Tina CMS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Cockpit Next or Tina CMS?
Cockpit Next has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Tina CMS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.