head to head · open source
ha-mcp vs HomeSpan
ha-mcp has 5,486 GitHub stars, 267 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HomeSpan has 2,210 stars, 206 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ha-mcp leads on adoption by 148% (5,486 vs 2,210 stars). ha-mcp is written in Python under MIT; HomeSpan is written in C++ under MIT. ha-mcp has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, HomeSpan 9%. ha-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-automation), 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
| ha-mcp | HomeSpan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.5K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 267 | ⑂ 206 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ha-mcp if
- You weight community size — 5.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick HomeSpan if
- You want the HomeSpan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and HomeSpan fits your workflow better
About ha-mcp
Breaking change (v7.3.0): ha config set yaml has been moved to beta. HA MCP — Manage Home Assistant with AI Configure and automate Home Assistant with Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants. 🚀 Get Started The recommended way to run ha mcp is the HA MCP integration . It installs into Home Assistant through HACS (the built in Marketplace on Home Assistant 2026.11+), runs the full server in process , and works on every Home Assistant installation type — Home Assistant OS, Supervised, Container, and Core — with full feature parity. It is the easiest setup in every case: setup asks for an administrator access…
read the full ha-mcp overview →
About HomeSpan
Welcome! Welcome to HomeSpan a robust and extremely easy to use Arduino library for creating your own ESP32 based HomeKit devices entirely within the Arduino IDE. HomeSpan provides a microcontroller focused implementation of Apple's HomeKit Accessory Protocol Specification Release R2 (HAP R2) designed specifically for the Espressif ESP32 microcontroller running within the Arduino IDE. HomeSpan pairs directly to HomeKit via your home WiFi network without the need for any external bridges or components. With HomeSpan you can use the full power of the ESP32's I/O functionality to create custom control software…
read the full HomeSpan overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ha-mcp or HomeSpan more popular?
ha-mcp has 5,486 GitHub stars and HomeSpan has 2,210. ha-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are ha-mcp and HomeSpan free?
Both are open source. ha-mcp is licensed under MIT and HomeSpan under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ha-mcp and HomeSpan?
ha-mcp is written in Python and HomeSpan 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, ha-mcp or HomeSpan?
Choose ha-mcp if you want the larger community (5,486 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose HomeSpan if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.