head to head · open source
android vs ESPresense
android has 3,903 GitHub stars, 1,067 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ESPresense has 1,477 stars, 184 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. android leads on adoption by 164% (3,903 vs 1,477 stars). android is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0; ESPresense is written in C under AGPL-3.0. android has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, ESPresense 12%. android was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (hacktoberfest, home-assistant, home-automation), 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
| android | ESPresense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Kotlin | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 184 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick android if
- You weight community size — 3.9K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ESPresense if
- You want the ESPresense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and ESPresense fits your workflow better
About android
The Home Assistant Companion for Android is the official Android application for Home Assistant, an open source home automation platform. It is written in Kotlin, released under the Apache 2.0 license, and distributed as an open source app for Android devices. The project sits inside the Home Assistant ecosystem and connects a mobile client to a user's Home Assistant instance.
read the full android overview →
About ESPresense
ESPresense is an AGPL 3.0 licensed ESP32 firmware project that turns low cost ESP32 boards into indoor positioning nodes which report presence data over MQTT to Home Assistant or to the ESPresense companion application.
read the full ESPresense overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is android or ESPresense more popular?
android has 3,903 GitHub stars and ESPresense has 1,477. android has the larger community by that measure.
Are android and ESPresense free?
Both are open source. android is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ESPresense under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between android and ESPresense?
android is written in Kotlin and ESPresense in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, android or ESPresense?
Choose android if you want the larger community (3,903 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ESPresense if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.