head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs IRremoteESP8266
Home Assistant has 91,945 GitHub stars, 39,193 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped yesterday. IRremoteESP8266 has 3,661 stars, 945 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 2,411% (91,945 vs 3,661 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; IRremoteESP8266 is written in C++ under LGPL-2.1. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, IRremoteESP8266 26%. 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 (hacktoberfest, 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 | IRremoteESP8266 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 92K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-08-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 945 |
| 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 IRremoteESP8266 if
- You want the IRremoteESP8266 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and IRremoteESP8266 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 IRremoteESP8266
This library enables you to send and receive infra red signals on an ESP8266 or an ESP32 using the Arduino framework using common 940nm IR LEDs and common IR receiver modules. e.g. TSOP{17,22,24,36,38,44,48} demodulators etc. v2.9.0 Now Available Version 2.9.0 of the library is now available. You can view the Release Notes for all the significant changes. Upgrading from pre v2.0 Usage of the library has been slightly changed in v2.0. You will need to change your usage to work with v2.0 and beyond. You can read more about the changes required on our Upgrade to v2.0 page. Upgrading from pre v2.5 The library has…
read the full IRremoteESP8266 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or IRremoteESP8266 more popular?
Home Assistant has 91,945 GitHub stars and IRremoteESP8266 has 3,661. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and IRremoteESP8266 free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and IRremoteESP8266 under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and IRremoteESP8266?
Home Assistant is written in Python and IRremoteESP8266 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 IRremoteESP8266?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (91,945 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose IRremoteESP8266 if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.