head to head · open source
OpenMQTTGateway vs button-card
OpenMQTTGateway has 4,094 GitHub stars, 906 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped today. button-card has 2,501 stars, 280 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. OpenMQTTGateway leads on adoption by 64% (4,094 vs 2,501 stars). OpenMQTTGateway is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; button-card is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenMQTTGateway has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, button-card 11%. OpenMQTTGateway 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, home-automation), 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
| OpenMQTTGateway | button-card | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.1K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 906 | ⑂ 280 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenMQTTGateway if
- You weight community size — 4.1K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick button-card if
- You want the button-card feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and button-card fits your workflow better
About OpenMQTTGateway
OpenMQTTGateway is an open source C++ gateway firmware for ESP8266 and ESP32 boards that connects local radio and sensor protocols to MQTT. It lives in the home automation ecosystem and is associated with Home Assistant, OpenHAB, NodeRed, and AWS IOT. The project aims to unify various technologies and protocols into a single firmware, reducing the need for multiple physical bridges.
read the full OpenMQTTGateway overview →
About button-card
button card is a custom Lovelace card for Home Assistant. It presents entities as configurable buttons and supports many options for appearance, actions, and state display. It lives in the Home Assistant ecosystem, specifically the Lovelace UI, and is distributed as a community custom card with stable and development releases.
read the full button-card 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 OpenMQTTGateway or button-card more popular?
OpenMQTTGateway has 4,094 GitHub stars and button-card has 2,501. OpenMQTTGateway has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenMQTTGateway and button-card free?
Both are open source. OpenMQTTGateway is licensed under GPL-3.0 and button-card under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenMQTTGateway and button-card?
OpenMQTTGateway is written in C++ and button-card in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenMQTTGateway or button-card?
Choose OpenMQTTGateway if you want the larger community (4,094 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose button-card if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.