ApexCharts Card vs EMQX
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | ApexCharts Card | EMQX |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Erlang |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,838 | ★ 16,599 |
| First released | 2021 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Grafana panels | — |
Why pick each one
Choose ApexCharts Card if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Choose EMQX if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 16.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Erlang
Frequently asked questions
Is ApexCharts Card or EMQX better?
Neither is universally better. EMQX has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ApexCharts Card and EMQX free and open-source?
Yes. ApexCharts Card is licensed under MIT and EMQX under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ApexCharts Card and EMQX with Docker?
ApexCharts Card: check the project docs for container support. EMQX: yes.