head to head · open source
Lightpanda vs EMS-ESP32
Lightpanda has 40,882 GitHub stars, 1,999 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. EMS-ESP32 has 1,053 stars, 159 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lightpanda leads on adoption by 3,782% (40,882 vs 1,053 stars). Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0; EMS-ESP32 is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. Lightpanda has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, EMS-ESP32 15%. Lightpanda was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Lightpanda | EMS-ESP32 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Zig | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 159 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Lightpanda if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Zig
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick EMS-ESP32 if
- You want the EMS-ESP32 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and EMS-ESP32 fits your workflow better
About Lightpanda
Lightpanda Browser The headless browser built from scratch for AI agents and automation. Not a Chromium fork. Not a WebKit patch. A new browser, written in Zig.   Benchmarks Requesting 933 real web pages over the network on a AWS EC2 m5.large instance. See benchmark details. Quick start Install Package Managers Latest nightly from Homebrew: Latest nightly from Arch Linux User Repository: Download from the nightly builds You can download the last binary from the nightly builds for Linux and MacOS for both x86 64 and aarch64. For Linux Verify the binary before running anything: Linux aarch64 is also available…
read the full Lightpanda overview →
About EMS-ESP32
EMS ESP EMS ESP is an open source firmware for the Espressif ESP32 microcontroller to communicate with EMS (Energy Management System) compatible equipment from manufacturers such as Bosch, Buderus, Nefit, Junkers, Worcester, Sieger, elm.leblanc and iVT. It requires a small circuit to interface with the EMS bus which can be purchased from . These gateways are tested thoroughly and certified to work with EMS ESP. 📦 Key Features Compatible with EMS, EMS+, EMS2, EMS Plus, Logamatic EMS, Junkers 2 wire, Heatronic 3 and 4 Supporting over 120 different EMS compatible devices such as thermostats, boilers, heat pumps…
read the full EMS-ESP32 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Lightpanda or EMS-ESP32 more popular?
Lightpanda has 40,882 GitHub stars and EMS-ESP32 has 1,053. Lightpanda has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lightpanda and EMS-ESP32 free?
Both are open source. Lightpanda is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and EMS-ESP32 under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lightpanda and EMS-ESP32?
Lightpanda is written in Zig and EMS-ESP32 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, Lightpanda or EMS-ESP32?
Choose Lightpanda if you want the larger community (40,882 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose EMS-ESP32 if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.