SHSelfHostIndex

OpenMQTTGateway vs ESPHome

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?
OP OpenMQTTGateway Bridge for RF, IR, BLE, and sensors to MQTT VS ES ESPHome Configure ESP devices with simple YAML
FeatureOpenMQTTGatewayESPHome
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageC++C++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM64 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4,073★ 11,505
First released20162018
ReplacesSmartThings HubSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose OpenMQTTGateway if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Active community (4.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C++
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
OpenMQTTGateway details

Choose ESPHome if…

  • No coding needed for devices
  • Great with Home Assistant
  • OTA updates
ESPHome details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenMQTTGateway or ESPHome better?

Neither is universally better. ESPHome has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are OpenMQTTGateway and ESPHome free and open-source?

Yes. OpenMQTTGateway is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ESPHome under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenMQTTGateway and ESPHome with Docker?

OpenMQTTGateway: check the project docs for container support. ESPHome: yes.

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