SHSelfHostIndex

Mozilla WebThings Gateway 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?
MO Mozilla WebThings Gateway Open gateway for the decentralized web of things VS ES ESPHome Configure ESP devices with simple YAML
FeatureMozilla WebThings GatewayESPHome
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseMPL-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, dockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,643★ 11,505
First released20182018
ReplacesSmartThings, Google HomeSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose Mozilla WebThings Gateway if…

  • Open standards-based
  • Privacy-focused
Mozilla WebThings Gateway details

Choose ESPHome if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Mozilla WebThings Gateway 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 Mozilla WebThings Gateway and ESPHome free and open-source?

Yes. Mozilla WebThings Gateway is licensed under MPL-2.0 and ESPHome under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Mozilla WebThings Gateway and ESPHome with Docker?

Mozilla WebThings Gateway: yes. ESPHome: yes.

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