head to head · open source
ha-mcp vs tagreader
ha-mcp has 5,512 GitHub stars, 269 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tagreader has 1,624 stars, 219 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. ha-mcp leads on adoption by 239% (5,512 vs 1,624 stars). ha-mcp is written in Python under MIT; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. ha-mcp has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. ha-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.5K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-09 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 269 | ⑂ 219 |
| 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 tagreader if
- You want the tagreader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and tagreader 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 tagreader
Tag Reader for Home Assistant The tag reader is a simple to build/use NFC tag reader, specially created for Home Assistant. It is using a D1 mini ESP 8266 and the PN532 NFC module. The firmware is built using ESPhome. I am selling a pre built version, a DIY version (assembly required), or just the case (use with own components). Check it out on my website. Building the tag reader To build your own tag reader, you need the following components: ESP8266 D1 Mini PN532 NFC Reader WS2812 Buzzer The 3D models for the case are here. WARNING regarding AZdelivery D1. We have had several users contacting us with different…
read the full tagreader overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ha-mcp or tagreader more popular?
ha-mcp has 5,512 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,624. ha-mcp has the larger community by that measure.
Are ha-mcp and tagreader free?
Both are open source. ha-mcp is licensed under MIT and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ha-mcp and tagreader?
ha-mcp is written in Python and tagreader in Shell. 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 tagreader?
Choose ha-mcp if you want the larger community (5,512 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose tagreader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.