head to head · open source
android vs tagreader
android has 3,912 GitHub stars, 1,068 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tagreader has 1,607 stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. android leads on adoption by 143% (3,912 vs 1,607 stars). android is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. android has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. android was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Kotlin | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 tagreader if
- You want the tagreader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and tagreader 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 tagreader
tagreader is a GPL 3.0 NFC tag reader built from an ESP8266 D1 Mini and a PN532 module running ESPHome firmware, created specifically so that Home Assistant users can scan physical tags and manage them inside Home Assistant.
read the full tagreader 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 tagreader more popular?
android has 3,912 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,607. android has the larger community by that measure.
Are android and tagreader free?
Both are open source. android is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between android and tagreader?
android is written in Kotlin and tagreader in Shell. 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 tagreader?
Choose android if you want the larger community (3,912 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tagreader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.