head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs cap
Home Assistant has 90,654 GitHub stars, 38,685 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cap has 22,381 stars, 1,918 forks, 339 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 305% (90,654 vs 22,381 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; cap is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, cap 9%. cap 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Home Assistant | cap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 22K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Home Assistant if
- You weight community size — 91K 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 cap if
- You want the cap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cap fits your workflow better
About Home Assistant
Home Assistant is an open source home automation platform that runs locally on devices such as Raspberry Pi or a personal server. It enables users to control and automate smart home devices—including lights, thermostats, locks, and sensors—without relying on cloud services. Built in Python with an asyncio event loop, it emphasizes local processing and data sovereignty, ensuring all device data remains under the user’s control.
read the full Home Assistant overview →
About cap
Cap open source screen recording sharing project for teams. Lives web desktop software ecosystem. Uses Rust TypeScript stack, Next.js web dashboard, desktop apps macOS Windows. Presents alternative Loom. Supports importing existing Loom videos.
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Internet of Things (IoT) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or cap more popular?
Home Assistant has 90,654 GitHub stars and cap has 22,381. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and cap free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0, and cap has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and cap?
Home Assistant is written in Python and cap in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Home Assistant or cap?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (90,654 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cap if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.