head to head · open source
operating-system vs project_aura
operating-system has 7,500 GitHub stars, 1,294 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. project_aura has 760 stars, 70 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 887% (7,500 vs 760 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; project_aura is written in C under GPL-3.0. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, project_aura 9%. operating-system was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (home-assistant, iot), 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 | project_aura | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 760 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-27 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 70 |
| 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 project_aura if
- You want the project_aura feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and project_aura 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 project_aura
Project Aura AQ is an open source ESP32 S3 air quality station with an LVGL touchscreen interface, a local web dashboard, MQTT and Home Assistant integration, and no cloud dependency, made for makers who want to assemble a finished indoor air quality monitor rather than run a temporary sensor prototype.
read the full project_aura overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or project_aura more popular?
operating-system has 7,500 GitHub stars and project_aura has 760. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and project_aura free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and project_aura under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and project_aura?
operating-system is written in Python and project_aura in C. 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 project_aura?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,500 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose project_aura if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.