# CMS Made Simple vs Lathe

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | CMS Made Simple | Lathe |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 64/100 ✓ | 52/100 |
| Rank in category | #12 of 42 in Content Management | #7 of 30 in Education |
| GitHub stars | — | 1 708 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 6 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | v0.5.0 · 20 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | — | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

CMS Made Simple scores 64/100 against 52/100 for Lathe, so it is the safer default.

Lathe ships more often: 6 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for CMS Made Simple.

If you want the quickest setup, Lathe is easier to run; CMS Made Simple needs more configuration.

## Details

- [CMS Made Simple](https://selfhost.directory/project/cms-made-simple) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/cms-made-simple.md)
- [Lathe](https://selfhost.directory/project/lathe) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/lathe.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/cms-made-simple-vs-lathe