head to head · open source
operating-system vs cafe-hass
operating-system has 7,550 GitHub stars, 1,316 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cafe-hass has 1,719 stars, 36 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 339% (7,550 vs 1,719 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; cafe-hass is written in TypeScript under MIT. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, cafe-hass 2%. operating-system 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 | cafe-hass | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-09-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 36 |
| 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 cafe-hass if
- You want the cafe-hass feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and cafe-hass fits your workflow better
About operating-system
Home Assistant Operating System Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Apps. Home Assistant Operating System uses Docker as its container engine. By default it deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container. Home Assistant Supervisor in turn uses the Docker container engine to control Home Assistant Core and Apps in separate containers. Home Assistant Operating System is not based on a regular Linux distribution like Ubuntu. It is built using Buildroot and it is optimized to run Home Assistant. It targets single board…
read the full operating-system overview →
About cafe-hass
C.A.F.E. C omplex A utomation F low E ditor Visual logic for Home Assistant, with 0% overhead. C.A.F.E. is a visual flow editor that brings Node RED style power to Home Assistant without the external engine . It transpiles your visual diagrams into 100% compliant, native Home Assistant logic stored directly in the core system. [!WARNING] The project is still in beta. While it is designed to be non destructive, please make sure to backup your automations before editing them with C.A.F.E.! [!TIP] Looking for a Role Based Access Control system for HA? ha rbac is now available! 📺 Featured In "THIS Home Assistant…
read the full cafe-hass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or cafe-hass more popular?
operating-system has 7,550 GitHub stars and cafe-hass has 1,719. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and cafe-hass free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cafe-hass under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and cafe-hass?
operating-system is written in Python and cafe-hass 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, operating-system or cafe-hass?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,550 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cafe-hass if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.