head to head · open source
operating-system vs tagreader
operating-system has 7,491 GitHub stars, 1,293 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tagreader has 1,609 stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. operating-system leads on adoption by 366% (7,491 vs 1,609 stars). operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. operating-system has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. operating-system 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
| operating-system | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 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 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 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 operating-system or tagreader more popular?
operating-system has 7,491 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,609. operating-system has the larger community by that measure.
Are operating-system and tagreader free?
Both are open source. operating-system is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between operating-system and tagreader?
operating-system 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, operating-system or tagreader?
Choose operating-system if you want the larger community (7,491 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.