head to head · open source
operating-system vs alexa_media_player
operating-system has 7,528 GitHub stars, 1,304 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. alexa_media_player has 1,988 stars, 346 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. operating-system leads on adoption by 279% (7,528 vs 1,988 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; alexa_media_player is written in Python under Apache-2.0. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, alexa_media_player 17%. alexa_media_player was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-assistant), 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
| operating-system | alexa_media_player | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 346 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick operating-system if
- You weight community size — 7.5K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick alexa_media_player if
- You want the alexa_media_player feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and alexa_media_player fits your workflow better
About operating-system
The Home Assistant Operating System is a Linux based operating system built specifically to host Home Assistant and its Apps, intended for people running Home Assistant on a single board computer such as a Raspberry Pi or ODROID, or on an x86 64 machine with UEFI firmware.
read the full operating-system overview →
About alexa_media_player
Alexa Media Player is a custom Home Assistant component that lets people who own Amazon Echo devices control them as media players through the unofficial Alexa API.
read the full alexa_media_player overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or alexa_media_player more popular?
operating-system has 7,528 GitHub stars and alexa_media_player has 1,988. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and alexa_media_player free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and alexa_media_player under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and alexa_media_player?
operating-system is written in Python and alexa_media_player 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, operating-system or alexa_media_player?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,528 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose alexa_media_player if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.