head to head · open source
ProxmoxVE vs IRremoteESP8266
ProxmoxVE has 30,010 GitHub stars, 2,938 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped yesterday. IRremoteESP8266 has 3,661 stars, 945 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ProxmoxVE leads on adoption by 720% (30,010 vs 3,661 stars). ProxmoxVE is written in Shell under MIT; IRremoteESP8266 is written in C++ under LGPL-2.1. ProxmoxVE has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, IRremoteESP8266 26%. ProxmoxVE was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-automation), 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
| ProxmoxVE | IRremoteESP8266 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | Shell | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 945 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ProxmoxVE if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick IRremoteESP8266 if
- You want the IRremoteESP8266 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and IRremoteESP8266 fits your workflow better
About ProxmoxVE
Proxmox VE Helper Scripts One command installations for services, containers, and VMs on Proxmox VE A community project — built on the foundation of @tteck 's original work What is this? Simplify your Proxmox VE setup with community driven automation scripts. Install and configure popular self hosted services with a single command — no manual package hunting, no config file archaeology. Paste a command into your Proxmox shell, answer a few prompts, and your container or VM is up and running. The collection covers hundreds of services across categories like home automation, media servers, networking tools…
read the full ProxmoxVE overview →
About IRremoteESP8266
This library enables you to send and receive infra red signals on an ESP8266 or an ESP32 using the Arduino framework using common 940nm IR LEDs and common IR receiver modules. e.g. TSOP{17,22,24,36,38,44,48} demodulators etc. v2.9.0 Now Available Version 2.9.0 of the library is now available. You can view the Release Notes for all the significant changes. Upgrading from pre v2.0 Usage of the library has been slightly changed in v2.0. You will need to change your usage to work with v2.0 and beyond. You can read more about the changes required on our Upgrade to v2.0 page. Upgrading from pre v2.5 The library has…
read the full IRremoteESP8266 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ProxmoxVE or IRremoteESP8266 more popular?
ProxmoxVE has 30,010 GitHub stars and IRremoteESP8266 has 3,661. ProxmoxVE has the larger community by that measure.
Are ProxmoxVE and IRremoteESP8266 free?
Both are open source. ProxmoxVE is licensed under MIT and IRremoteESP8266 under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ProxmoxVE and IRremoteESP8266?
ProxmoxVE is written in Shell and IRremoteESP8266 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, ProxmoxVE or IRremoteESP8266?
Choose ProxmoxVE if you want the larger community (30,010 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose IRremoteESP8266 if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.