head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs homeThing
Home Assistant has 90,832 GitHub stars, 38,710 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped yesterday. homeThing has 546 stars, 42 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 16,536% (90,832 vs 546 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; homeThing is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, homeThing 8%. 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 (home-automation), 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 | homeThing | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 546 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 42 |
| 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 homeThing if
- You want the homeThing feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and homeThing 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 homeThing
homeThing is a collection of open source hardware and software — a 3D printable ESP32 remote, an ESPHome menu system, and components for controlling Home Assistant devices — for makers and Home Assistant users who want a battery powered physical remote with a screen and scroll wheel instead of a touch screen.
read the full homeThing overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or homeThing more popular?
Home Assistant has 90,832 GitHub stars and homeThing has 546. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and homeThing free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and homeThing under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and homeThing?
Home Assistant is written in Python and homeThing in C++. 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 homeThing?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (90,832 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose homeThing if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.