head to head · open source
espectre vs HomeKey-ESP32
espectre has 9,728 GitHub stars, 739 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HomeKey-ESP32 has 1,116 stars, 100 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. espectre leads on adoption by 772% (9,728 vs 1,116 stars). espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; HomeKey-ESP32 is written in C++ under MIT. espectre has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, HomeKey-ESP32 9%. 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 | HomeKey-ESP32 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.7K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 739 | ⑂ 100 |
| 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 HomeKey-ESP32 if
- You want the HomeKey-ESP32 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and HomeKey-ESP32 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 HomeKey-ESP32
HomeKey ESP32 Apple HomeKey functionality for the rest of us Documentation What is HomeKey ESP32? The project aims to be the easy DIY solution for using Apple's HomeKey feature without the need to purchase a compatible smart lock that you probably don't want. HomeKey ESP32 brings Apple's secure NFC based unlocking to an ESP32 module near you, enabling you to unlock doors and whatnot with a simple tap of your iPhone or Apple Watch. No proprietary hardware required – just an ESP32 and one of the supported NFC modules [!WARNING] The flash memory is not encrypted as this kinda started as a pet project of mine but a…
read the full HomeKey-ESP32 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is espectre or HomeKey-ESP32 more popular?
espectre has 9,728 GitHub stars and HomeKey-ESP32 has 1,116. espectre has the larger community by that measure.
Are espectre and HomeKey-ESP32 free?
Both are open source. espectre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and HomeKey-ESP32 under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between espectre and HomeKey-ESP32?
espectre is written in Python and HomeKey-ESP32 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, espectre or HomeKey-ESP32?
Choose espectre if you want the larger community (9,728 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose HomeKey-ESP32 if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.