Button Card vs Home Assistant
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
Home Assistant
Open-source home automation that puts privacy first
| Feature | Button Card | Home Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal, one-click |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,476 | ★ 89,795 |
| First released | 2019 | 2013 |
| Replaces | proprietary smart home dashboards | SmartThings, Google Home |
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
Choose Home Assistant if…
- Huge device support
- Local control and privacy
- Very active community
Frequently asked questions
Is Button Card or Home Assistant better?
Neither is universally better. Home Assistant has the larger community, while Button Card is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Button Card and Home Assistant free and open-source?
Yes. Button Card is licensed under MIT and Home Assistant under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Button Card and Home Assistant with Docker?
Button Card: check the project docs for container support. Home Assistant: yes.