head to head · open source
espectre vs itsyhome-macos
espectre has 9,786 GitHub stars, 743 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. itsyhome-macos has 1,010 stars, 37 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. espectre leads on adoption by 869% (9,786 vs 1,010 stars). espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; itsyhome-macos is written in Swift under MIT. espectre has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, itsyhome-macos 4%. 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 | itsyhome-macos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.8K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-09-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 743 | ⑂ 37 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick espectre if
- You weight community size — 9.8K 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 itsyhome-macos if
- You want the itsyhome-macos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and itsyhome-macos 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 itsyhome-macos
Itsyhome A native macOS menu bar app for controlling your HomeKit and Home Assistant smart home. itsyhome.app Also available on iOS and tvOS iOS tvOS Features Menu bar access Control your smart home from the macOS menu bar HomeKit support Full integration with Apple HomeKit devices and scenes Home Assistant support Connect to your Home Assistant server via WebSocket API Device groups Create custom groups to control multiple devices at once Auto groups Similar devices are folded into one click groups ("All lights", "All blinds", ...) at the top level and in every room, with a master toggle and the member devices…
read the full itsyhome-macos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is espectre or itsyhome-macos more popular?
espectre has 9,786 GitHub stars and itsyhome-macos has 1,010. espectre has the larger community by that measure.
Are espectre and itsyhome-macos free?
Both are open source. espectre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and itsyhome-macos under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between espectre and itsyhome-macos?
espectre is written in Python and itsyhome-macos 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 itsyhome-macos?
Choose espectre if you want the larger community (9,786 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose itsyhome-macos if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.