head to head · open source
espectre vs cafe-hass
espectre has 9,650 GitHub stars, 730 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cafe-hass has 1,719 stars, 36 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. espectre leads on adoption by 461% (9,650 vs 1,719 stars). espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; cafe-hass is written in TypeScript under MIT. espectre has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, cafe-hass 2%. espectre was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-assistant), 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
| espectre | cafe-hass | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.7K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-09-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 730 | ⑂ 36 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick espectre if
- You weight community size — 9.7K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cafe-hass if
- You want the cafe-hass feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and cafe-hass fits your workflow better
About espectre
ESPectre Turn an ESP32 into a private, local Wi Fi motion sensor. When someone moves through a room, they change the way Wi Fi signals travel through it. ESPectre reads those changes and reports motion in real time. No camera, no microphone, no wearable, and no dedicated radar hardware: just a supported ESP32 and the Wi Fi network already in the room. ESPectre is an open source platform that brings together ready to flash firmware, an embeddable C++ SDK, a MicroPython implementation, browser tools, a host CLI, an open dataset, open model weights, and the research workflow used to build and validate the…
read the full espectre overview →
About cafe-hass
C.A.F.E. C omplex A utomation F low E ditor Visual logic for Home Assistant, with 0% overhead. C.A.F.E. is a visual flow editor that brings Node RED style power to Home Assistant without the external engine . It transpiles your visual diagrams into 100% compliant, native Home Assistant logic stored directly in the core system. [!WARNING] The project is still in beta. While it is designed to be non destructive, please make sure to backup your automations before editing them with C.A.F.E.! [!TIP] Looking for a Role Based Access Control system for HA? ha rbac is now available! 📺 Featured In "THIS Home Assistant…
read the full cafe-hass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is espectre or cafe-hass more popular?
espectre has 9,650 GitHub stars and cafe-hass has 1,719. espectre has the larger community by that measure.
Are espectre and cafe-hass free?
Both are open source. espectre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and cafe-hass under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between espectre and cafe-hass?
espectre is written in Python and cafe-hass in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, espectre or cafe-hass?
Choose espectre if you want the larger community (9,650 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose cafe-hass if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.