head to head · open source
Lightpanda vs HomeSpan
Lightpanda has 35,409 GitHub stars, 1,680 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HomeSpan has 2,165 stars, 199 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Lightpanda leads on adoption by 1,536% (35,409 vs 2,165 stars). Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0; HomeSpan is written in C++ under MIT. Lightpanda has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, HomeSpan 9%. 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 | HomeSpan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Zig | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 199 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Lightpanda if
- You weight community size — 35K 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 HomeSpan if
- You want the HomeSpan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and HomeSpan fits your workflow better
About Lightpanda
Lightpanda is a headless browser built from scratch in Zig, designed specifically for AI agents and automation tasks. It is not a fork of Chromium or WebKit but a new implementation targeting performance and efficiency in automated web interactions. It lives in the browser automation ecosystem, competing with tools like Puppeteer and Playwright that typically rely on Chromium based headless modes.
read the full Lightpanda overview →
About HomeSpan
HomeSpan is an MIT licensed C++ Arduino library for the Arduino ESP32 ecosystem. It lets developers build HomeKit devices on Espressif ESP32 microcontrollers without external bridges or components. The project implements Apple's HomeKit Accessory Protocol Specification Release R2, called HAP R2, and pairs directly to HomeKit through a home WiFi network.
read the full HomeSpan overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Lightpanda or HomeSpan more popular?
Lightpanda has 35,409 GitHub stars and HomeSpan has 2,165. Lightpanda has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lightpanda and HomeSpan free?
Both are open source. Lightpanda is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and HomeSpan under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lightpanda and HomeSpan?
Lightpanda is written in Zig and HomeSpan 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 HomeSpan?
Choose Lightpanda if you want the larger community (35,409 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose HomeSpan if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.