head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs Hey
Home Assistant has 91,919 GitHub stars, 39,214 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hey has 29,353 stars, 1,808 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 213% (91,919 vs 29,353 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Hey is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, Hey 6%. Home Assistant was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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
| Home Assistant | Hey | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 92K | ★ 29K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| 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 Hey if
- You want the Hey feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Hey 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 Hey
Hey.xyz Hey is a decentralized and permissionless social media application built with Lens Protocol. Open Source Snapshot Notice This repository represents the last publicly available open source version of Hey.xyz before May 15, 2026 . Development and changes made to Hey.xyz after May 15, 2026 are currently not open source and are not included in this repository. This repository is therefore preserved as a historical open source snapshot of the Hey.xyz codebase as it existed before that date. About Hey is a decentralized social network built on top of the Lens Protocol. The application provides a social…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or Hey more popular?
Home Assistant has 91,919 GitHub stars and Hey has 29,353. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and Hey free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Hey under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and Hey?
Home Assistant is written in Python and Hey in TypeScript. 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 Hey?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (91,919 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Hey if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.