head to head · open source
integration vs operating-system
integration has 7,740 GitHub stars, 1,591 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. operating-system has 7,492 stars, 1,293 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. integration leads on adoption by 3% (7,740 vs 7,492 stars). integration is written in Python under MIT; operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0. integration has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, operating-system 17%. integration 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| integration | operating-system | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.7K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick integration if
- You weight community size — 7.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick operating-system if
- You want the operating-system 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 operating-system fits your workflow better
About integration
HACS (Home Assistant Community Store) is an MIT licensed Python integration that gives Home Assistant users a user interface for discovering, installing, tracking, and updating custom elements without leaving Home Assistant itself.
read the full integration overview →
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 →
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 integration or operating-system more popular?
integration has 7,740 GitHub stars and operating-system has 7,492. integration has the larger community by that measure.
Are integration and operating-system free?
Both are open source. integration is licensed under MIT and operating-system under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between integration and operating-system?
integration is written in Python and operating-system 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, integration or operating-system?
Choose integration if you want the larger community (7,740 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose operating-system if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.