head to head · open source
OpenMQTTGateway vs homie-esp8266
OpenMQTTGateway has 4,116 GitHub stars, 910 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. homie-esp8266 has 1,374 stars, 304 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. OpenMQTTGateway leads on adoption by 200% (4,116 vs 1,374 stars). OpenMQTTGateway is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; homie-esp8266 is written in HTML under MIT. OpenMQTTGateway has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, homie-esp8266 22%. OpenMQTTGateway was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (arduino, esp8266, 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.
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Side by side
| OpenMQTTGateway | homie-esp8266 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.1K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-03-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 910 | ⑂ 304 |
| 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 homie-esp8266 if
- You want the homie-esp8266 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and homie-esp8266 fits your workflow better
About OpenMQTTGateway
OpenMQTTGateway aims to unify various technologies and protocols into a single firmware. This reduces the need for multiple physical bridges and streamlines diverse technologies under the widely used MQTT protocol. Sponsors Documentation The documentation is here New to OpenMQTTGateway? Follow the Getting Started guide to flash a board from your browser and see your first sensor data in about 15 minutes. The reference sheet, with the list of all functions, pinouts is here Upload Upload OpenMQTTGateway directly from the upload page (no additional software required) or build your own configuration with PlatformIO…
read the full OpenMQTTGateway overview →
About homie-esp8266
Homie for ESP8266 / ESP32 An Arduino for ESP8266 / ESP32 implementation of Homie, an MQTT convention for the IoT. This branch of Homie for ESP8266 implements Homie 3.0.1 and adds support for ESP32. Download The Git repository contains the development version of Homie for ESP8266. Stable releases are available on the releases page. Using with PlatformIO PlatformIO is an open source ecosystem for IoT development with cross platform build system, library manager and full support for Espressif ESP8266 development. It works on the popular host OS: Mac OS X, Windows, Linux 32/64, Linux ARM (like Raspberry Pi…
read the full homie-esp8266 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenMQTTGateway or homie-esp8266 more popular?
OpenMQTTGateway has 4,116 GitHub stars and homie-esp8266 has 1,374. OpenMQTTGateway has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenMQTTGateway and homie-esp8266 free?
Both are open source. OpenMQTTGateway is licensed under GPL-3.0 and homie-esp8266 under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenMQTTGateway and homie-esp8266?
OpenMQTTGateway is written in C++ and homie-esp8266 in HTML. 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 homie-esp8266?
Choose OpenMQTTGateway if you want the larger community (4,116 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose homie-esp8266 if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.