head to head · open source
operating-system vs homeassistant_espscreen
operating-system has 7,639 GitHub stars, 1,336 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. homeassistant_espscreen has 1,084 stars, 161 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 605% (7,639 vs 1,084 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; homeassistant_espscreen is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, homeassistant_espscreen 15%. operating-system was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (home-assistant, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| operating-system | homeassistant_espscreen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.6K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-09 | 2026-11-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 161 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick operating-system if
- You weight community size — 7.6K 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 homeassistant_espscreen if
- You want the homeassistant_espscreen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and homeassistant_espscreen fits your workflow better
About operating-system
Home Assistant Operating System Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Apps. Home Assistant Operating System uses Docker as its container engine. By default it deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container. Home Assistant Supervisor in turn uses the Docker container engine to control Home Assistant Core and Apps in separate containers. Home Assistant Operating System is not based on a regular Linux distribution like Ubuntu. It is built using Buildroot and it is optimized to run Home Assistant. It targets single board…
read the full operating-system overview →
About homeassistant_espscreen
Tessera Touch screens for Home Assistant. A screen for every room, one simple editor. Website · Quick start · Supported screens · Community · My screen works Tessera is not in the standard App store. This button adds its repository to your Home Assistant. After that, Tessera Screen Manager is in the store like any other app. Tessera is the new name for ESP Screens. In Home Assistant the app is called Tessera Screen Manager and its panel Tessera (app 0.3.18); the repository, the add on and your screens stay exactly as they are. Looking for e ink? Tessera is for colour LCD touch screens. For calm dashboards on e…
read the full homeassistant_espscreen overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Internet of Things (IoT) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or homeassistant_espscreen more popular?
operating-system has 7,639 GitHub stars and homeassistant_espscreen has 1,084. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and homeassistant_espscreen free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and homeassistant_espscreen under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and homeassistant_espscreen?
operating-system is written in Python and homeassistant_espscreen 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, operating-system or homeassistant_espscreen?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,639 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose homeassistant_espscreen if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.