head to head · open source
operating-system vs hassio-addons
operating-system has 7,627 GitHub stars, 1,331 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hassio-addons has 2,646 stars, 337 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped yesterday. operating-system leads on adoption by 188% (7,627 vs 2,646 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; hassio-addons is written in Shell under MIT. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, hassio-addons 13%. hassio-addons 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
| operating-system | hassio-addons | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.6K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 337 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick operating-system if
- You weight community size — 7.6K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hassio-addons if
- You want the hassio-addons feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and hassio-addons fits your workflow better
About operating-system
Home Assistant Operating System Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Apps. Home Assistant Operating System uses Docker as its container engine. By default it deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container. Home Assistant Supervisor in turn uses the Docker container engine to control Home Assistant Core and Apps in separate containers. Home Assistant Operating System is not based on a regular Linux distribution like Ubuntu. It is built using Buildroot and it is optimized to run Home Assistant. It targets single board…
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About hassio-addons
Home assistant add on: alexbelgium Support development I maintain this and other Home Assistant add ons in my free time: keeping up with upstream changes, HA changes, and testing on real hardware takes a lot of time (and some money). I use around 5 10 of my 110 addons so regularly I install test machines (and purchase some test services such as vpn) that I don't use myself to troubleshoot and improve the addons If this add on saves you time or makes your setup easier, I would be very grateful for your support! [![Buy me a coffee][donation badge]]( [![Donate via PayPal][paypal badge]]( Addon informations…
read the full hassio-addons overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or hassio-addons more popular?
operating-system has 7,627 GitHub stars and hassio-addons has 2,646. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and hassio-addons free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hassio-addons under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and hassio-addons?
operating-system is written in Python and hassio-addons 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, operating-system or hassio-addons?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,627 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hassio-addons if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.