head to head · open source
espectre vs iOS
espectre has 9,728 GitHub stars, 739 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. iOS has 2,396 stars, 552 forks, 293 open issues and last shipped yesterday. espectre leads on adoption by 306% (9,728 vs 2,396 stars). espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; iOS is written in Swift under Apache-2.0. espectre has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, iOS 23%. iOS 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 | iOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.7K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 739 | ⑂ 552 |
| 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 iOS if
- You want the iOS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and iOS 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 iOS
Home Assistant for Apple Platforms ================= Getting Started Home Assistant uses Bundler, Homebrew, and SPM to manage build dependencies. You'll need Xcode 27.0 (or later), currently a beta, which you can download from Apple Developer Downloads. You can get the app running using the following commands: Once this completes, you can launch HomeAssistant.xcodeproj and run the App Debug scheme onto your simulator or iOS device. Testing just the frontend To just test the frontend, you can use a simulator version built by our GitHub actions. 1. Install Xcode from the App Store making sure it's at least the…
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Frequently asked questions
Is espectre or iOS more popular?
espectre has 9,728 GitHub stars and iOS has 2,396. espectre has the larger community by that measure.
Are espectre and iOS free?
Both are open source. espectre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and iOS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between espectre and iOS?
espectre is written in Python and iOS in Swift. 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 iOS?
Choose espectre if you want the larger community (9,728 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose iOS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.