head to head · open source
Home Assistant vs tagreader
Home Assistant has 90,988 GitHub stars, 38,722 forks, 3,527 open issues and last shipped today. tagreader has 1,607 stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Home Assistant leads on adoption by 5,562% (90,988 vs 1,607 stars). Home Assistant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. Home Assistant has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. Home Assistant was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Home Assistant | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 39K | ⑂ 212 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Home Assistant if
- You weight community size — 91K 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 tagreader if
- You want the tagreader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and tagreader fits your workflow better
About Home Assistant
Home Assistant is an open source home automation platform that runs locally on devices such as Raspberry Pi or a personal server. It enables users to control and automate smart home devices—including lights, thermostats, locks, and sensors—without relying on cloud services. Built in Python with an asyncio event loop, it emphasizes local processing and data sovereignty, ensuring all device data remains under the user’s control.
read the full Home Assistant overview →
About tagreader
tagreader is a GPL 3.0 NFC tag reader built from an ESP8266 D1 Mini and a PN532 module running ESPHome firmware, created specifically so that Home Assistant users can scan physical tags and manage them inside Home Assistant.
read the full tagreader overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or tagreader more popular?
Home Assistant has 90,988 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,607. Home Assistant has the larger community by that measure.
Are Home Assistant and tagreader free?
Both are open source. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Home Assistant and tagreader?
Home Assistant is written in Python and tagreader in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Home Assistant or tagreader?
Choose Home Assistant if you want the larger community (90,988 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tagreader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.