head to head · open source
android vs spook
android has 3,903 GitHub stars, 1,067 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. spook has 1,298 stars, 91 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. android leads on adoption by 201% (3,903 vs 1,298 stars). android is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0; spook is written in Python under MIT. android has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, spook 7%. android was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| android | spook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Kotlin | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 91 |
| 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 spook if
- You want the spook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and spook 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 spook
Spook is a custom integration for Home Assistant that extends a Home Assistant instance with a set of extra tools, aimed at people who already run Home Assistant and want more capability without forking core components.
read the full spook overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Internet of Things (IoT) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is android or spook more popular?
android has 3,903 GitHub stars and spook has 1,298. android has the larger community by that measure.
Are android and spook free?
Both are open source. android is licensed under Apache-2.0 and spook under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between android and spook?
android is written in Kotlin and spook in Python. 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 spook?
Choose android if you want the larger community (3,903 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose spook if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.