Button Card vs WLED
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?
Button Card
Highly customizable button card for Home Assistant Lovelace
VS
WLED
Firmware for controlling addressable LED strips
| Feature | Button Card | WLED |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 16 MB |
| Deployment | source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,476 | ★ 18,518 |
| First released | 2019 | 2016 |
| Replaces | proprietary smart home dashboards | Philips Hue |
Why pick each one
Choose Button Card if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Button Card or WLED better?
Neither is universally better. WLED has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Button Card and WLED free and open-source?
Yes. Button Card is licensed under MIT and WLED under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Button Card and WLED with Docker?
Button Card: check the project docs for container support. WLED: check the project docs for container support.