head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs espectre
Home Assistant has 91,998 GitHub stars, 39,215 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped today. espectre has 9,747 stars, 741 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 844% (91,998 vs 9,747 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, espectre 8%. Home Assistant 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
| Home Assistant | espectre | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 92K | ★ 9.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 741 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Home Assistant if
- You weight community size — 92K 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 espectre if
- You want the espectre feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and espectre fits your workflow better
About Home Assistant
Home Assistant Chat Status ================================================================================= Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Check out home assistant.io for a demo , installation instructions , tutorials and documentation . Featured integrations The system is built using a modular approach so support for other devices or actions can be implemented easily. See also the section on architecture and the section on creating your own components…
read the full Home Assistant overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or espectre more popular?
Home Assistant has 91,998 GitHub stars and espectre has 9,747. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and espectre free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and espectre under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and espectre?
Home Assistant is written in Python and espectre in Python. 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 espectre?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (91,998 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose espectre if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.