head to head · open source
Lightpanda vs homeThing
Lightpanda has 35,418 GitHub stars, 1,681 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. homeThing has 546 stars, 42 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. Lightpanda leads on adoption by 6,387% (35,418 vs 546 stars). Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0; homeThing is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Lightpanda has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, homeThing 8%. 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.
← all 13541 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Lightpanda | homeThing | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 546 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Zig | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 42 |
| 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 homeThing if
- You want the homeThing feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and homeThing 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 homeThing
homeThing is a collection of open source hardware and software — a 3D printable ESP32 remote, an ESPHome menu system, and components for controlling Home Assistant devices — for makers and Home Assistant users who want a battery powered physical remote with a screen and scroll wheel instead of a touch screen.
read the full homeThing overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Automation projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Automation field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lightpanda or homeThing more popular?
Lightpanda has 35,418 GitHub stars and homeThing has 546. Lightpanda has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lightpanda and homeThing free?
Both are open source. Lightpanda is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and homeThing under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lightpanda and homeThing?
Lightpanda is written in Zig and homeThing 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 homeThing?
Choose Lightpanda if you want the larger community (35,418 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose homeThing if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.