head to head · open source
tagreader vs libretiny
tagreader has 1,609 GitHub stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. libretiny has 544 stars, 115 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. tagreader leads on adoption by 196% (1,609 vs 544 stars). tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0; libretiny is written in C under MIT. tagreader has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, libretiny 21%. libretiny was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (esphome), 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
| tagreader | libretiny | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.6K | ★ 544 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Shell | C |
| Last push | 2026-04-27 | 2026-06-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 212 | ⑂ 115 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tagreader if
- You weight community size — 1.6K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick libretiny if
- You want the libretiny feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and libretiny fits your workflow better
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 →
About libretiny
LibreTiny is a PlatformIO development platform for BK7231, RTL8710 and LN882H IoT chips, built for embedded developers who need a usable build environment and Arduino compatible cores for IoT modules that lack official tooling.
read the full libretiny 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 tagreader or libretiny more popular?
tagreader has 1,609 GitHub stars and libretiny has 544. tagreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are tagreader and libretiny free?
Both are open source. tagreader is licensed under GPL-3.0 and libretiny under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tagreader and libretiny?
tagreader is written in Shell and libretiny 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, tagreader or libretiny?
Choose tagreader if you want the larger community (1,609 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose libretiny if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.