deCONZ vs Zigbee Herdsman
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | deCONZ | Zigbee Herdsman |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,908 | ★ 565 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Philips Hue Bridge | Philips Hue Bridge |
What are deCONZ and Zigbee Herdsman?
deCONZ
deCONZ is gateway software for the ConBee and RaspBee Zigbee adapters, exposing a REST API to control Zigbee devices. It includes a graphical network editor for managing the Zigbee mesh.
- Zigbee gateway with REST API
- Graphical network editor
- Works with ConBee and RaspBee
- Home Assistant integration
Zigbee Herdsman
Zigbee Herdsman is an open-source Node.js/TypeScript library that communicates with Zigbee coordinator adapters to form networks and control devices programmatically. It is the foundation of Zigbee2MQTT rather than an end-user application.
- Zigbee coordinator library
- Powers Zigbee2MQTT
- Supports many adapters
- Programmatic device control
deCONZ vs Zigbee Herdsman: key differences
DeCONZ is written in C++, while Zigbee Herdsman is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for deCONZ versus MIT for Zigbee Herdsman. Zigbee Herdsman is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for deCONZ. DeCONZ has the considerably larger community, at 1,908 GitHub stars versus 565.
Why pick each one
Choose deCONZ if…
- Visual mesh management
- Stable Zigbee stack
Watch out for
- Tied to specific adapters
- Partly closed-source core
Choose Zigbee Herdsman if…
- Foundation of an open Zigbee stack
- Broad hardware support
Watch out for
- Library not an end-user app
- Requires development knowledge
Frequently asked questions
Is deCONZ or Zigbee Herdsman better?
deCONZ is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Zigbee Herdsman if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are deCONZ and Zigbee Herdsman free and open-source?
Yes. deCONZ is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Zigbee Herdsman under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run deCONZ and Zigbee Herdsman with Docker?
deCONZ: yes. Zigbee Herdsman: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, deCONZ or Zigbee Herdsman?
Zigbee Herdsman has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for deCONZ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.