head to head · open source
operating-system vs touchkio
operating-system has 7,559 GitHub stars, 1,317 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. touchkio has 1,679 stars, 90 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 350% (7,559 vs 1,679 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; touchkio is written in JavaScript under MIT. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, touchkio 5%. 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 | touchkio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.6K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-21 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 90 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick operating-system if
- You weight community size — 7.6K 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 touchkio if
- You want the touchkio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and touchkio 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 touchkio
TouchKio TouchKio is a Node.js application that utilizes Electron to create a kiosk mode window specifically designed for a Home Assistant dashboard. This tool is packaged as a .deb file, making it easy to launch the kiosk application on any Debian based Linux hardware (e.g. Raspberry Pi ) equipped with a DSI or HDMI Touch Display. Additional releases for other Linux systems are available as .zip file. This implementation addresses common issues encountered when using the built in browser running in fullscreen mode on a Linux device with Touch Display. Moreover, the device running the kiosk application also…
read the full touchkio overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is operating-system or touchkio more popular?
operating-system has 7,559 GitHub stars and touchkio has 1,679. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and touchkio free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and touchkio under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and touchkio?
operating-system is written in Python and touchkio in JavaScript. 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 touchkio?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,559 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose touchkio if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.