head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs HTTP-Shortcuts
Home Assistant has 90,832 GitHub stars, 38,710 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HTTP-Shortcuts has 1,819 stars, 152 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 4,894% (90,832 vs 1,819 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; HTTP-Shortcuts is written in Kotlin under MIT. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, HTTP-Shortcuts 8%. Home Assistant was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (home-automation, iot), 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 | HTTP-Shortcuts | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 152 |
| 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 HTTP-Shortcuts if
- You want the HTTP-Shortcuts feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and HTTP-Shortcuts 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 HTTP-Shortcuts
HTTP Shortcuts is a free and open source Android app that turns home screen shortcuts, widgets, and quick settings tiles into triggers for arbitrary HTTP requests and other network actions, aimed at Android users who want to control devices and services without building a dedicated app. It lives in the Android ecosystem and is written in Kotlin under the MIT licence.
read the full HTTP-Shortcuts overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or HTTP-Shortcuts more popular?
Home Assistant has 90,832 GitHub stars and HTTP-Shortcuts has 1,819. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and HTTP-Shortcuts free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and HTTP-Shortcuts under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and HTTP-Shortcuts?
Home Assistant is written in Python and HTTP-Shortcuts in Kotlin. 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 HTTP-Shortcuts?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (90,832 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose HTTP-Shortcuts if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.