AppDaemon vs Gladys Assistant
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | AppDaemon | Gladys Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 969 | ★ 3,201 |
| First released | 2016 | 2017 |
| Replaces | SmartThings | SmartThings, Google Home |
What are AppDaemon and Gladys Assistant?
AppDaemon
AppDaemon is a loosely coupled, multi-threaded, sandboxed Python execution environment for writing automation apps for Home Assistant and other systems. It enables complex logic beyond YAML automations.
- Python automation apps
- Sandboxed execution
- Dashboards via HADashboard
- Works with Home Assistant
Gladys Assistant
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source home automation program that runs locally on your hardware. It controls smart devices, scenes, and schedules through a clean web and mobile interface.
- Runs fully locally
- Device, scene, and schedule control
- Clean web and mobile UI
- Energy monitoring
AppDaemon vs Gladys Assistant: key differences
AppDaemon is written in Python, while Gladys Assistant is built with JavaScript. AppDaemon is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Gladys Assistant. Gladys Assistant has the considerably larger community, at 3,201 GitHub stars versus 969.
Why pick each one
Choose AppDaemon if…
- Powerful programmatic automations
- Full Python flexibility
Watch out for
- Requires Python knowledge
- Extra component to maintain
Choose Gladys Assistant if…
- Strong privacy focus
- Beginner-friendly
Watch out for
- Smaller integration catalog
- Less powerful automations than HA
Frequently asked questions
Is AppDaemon or Gladys Assistant better?
Gladys Assistant is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider AppDaemon if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are AppDaemon and Gladys Assistant free and open-source?
Yes. AppDaemon is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Gladys Assistant under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AppDaemon and Gladys Assistant with Docker?
AppDaemon: yes. Gladys Assistant: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, AppDaemon or Gladys Assistant?
AppDaemon has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Gladys Assistant. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.