head to head · open source
OpenTofu vs homelab
OpenTofu has 30,703 GitHub stars, 1,414 forks, 320 open issues and last shipped yesterday. homelab has 9,709 stars, 890 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenTofu leads on adoption by 216% (30,703 vs 9,709 stars). OpenTofu is written in Go under MPL-2.0; homelab is written in Python under GPL-3.0. OpenTofu has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, homelab 9%. OpenTofu 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
| OpenTofu | homelab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 9.7K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 890 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenTofu if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick homelab if
- You want the homelab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and homelab fits your workflow better
About OpenTofu
Homepage Slack Get Started OpenTofu is an OSS tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. OpenTofu can manage existing and popular service providers as well as custom in house solutions. Getting help and contributing Have a question? Post it in GitHub Discussions Open a GitHub issue Join us in the opentofu channel on the CNCF Slack! Want to contribute? Please read the Contribution Guide. Recurring Events Community Meetings on Wednesdays at 12:30 UTC (calendar) Technical Steering Committee Meetings every other Tuesday at 4pm UTC (calendar) [!TIP] For more OpenTofu events…
read the full OpenTofu overview →
About homelab
Khue's Homelab Features • Get Started • Documentation This project utilizes Infrastructure as Code and GitOps to automate provisioning, operating, and updating self hosted services in my homelab. It can be used as a highly customizable framework to build your own homelab. What is a homelab? Homelab is a laboratory at home where you can self host, experiment with new technologies, practice for certifications, and so on. For more information, please see the r/homelab introduction and the Home Operations Discord community (formerly known as k8s at home). If you encounter an issue, please create a bug report (avoid…
read the full homelab overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenTofu or homelab more popular?
OpenTofu has 30,703 GitHub stars and homelab has 9,709. OpenTofu has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenTofu and homelab free?
Both are open source. OpenTofu is licensed under MPL-2.0 and homelab under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenTofu and homelab?
OpenTofu is written in Go and homelab 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, OpenTofu or homelab?
Choose OpenTofu if you want the larger community (30,703 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose homelab if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.