head to head · open source
Lightpanda vs pyatv
Lightpanda has 35,418 GitHub stars, 1,681 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped today. pyatv has 1,175 stars, 145 forks, 258 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Lightpanda leads on adoption by 2,914% (35,418 vs 1,175 stars). Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0; pyatv is written in Python under MIT. Lightpanda has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, pyatv 12%. 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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Lightpanda | pyatv | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Zig | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 145 |
| 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 pyatv if
- You want the pyatv feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pyatv 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 pyatv
A client library for Apple TV and AirPlay devices ================================================= This is an asyncio python library for interacting with Apple TV and AirPlay devices. It mainly targets Apple TVs (all generations, including tvOS 15 and later ), but also supports audio streaming via AirPlay to receivers like the HomePod, AirPort Express and third party speakers. It can act as remote control to the Music app/iTunes in macOS. All the documentation you need is available at pyatv.dev . What can it do? Some examples include: Remote control commands Metadata retrieval with push updates Stream files via …
read the full pyatv 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 pyatv more popular?
Lightpanda has 35,418 GitHub stars and pyatv has 1,175. Lightpanda has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lightpanda and pyatv free?
Both are open source. Lightpanda is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and pyatv under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lightpanda and pyatv?
Lightpanda is written in Zig and pyatv 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, Lightpanda or pyatv?
Choose Lightpanda if you want the larger community (35,418 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pyatv if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.