SHSelfHostIndex

Mozilla WebThings Gateway vs Mosquitto

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 MO Mosquitto Lightweight MQTT message broker
FeatureMozilla WebThings GatewayMosquitto
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseMPL-2.0EPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptC
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, dockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,643★ 11,101
First released20182009
ReplacesSmartThings, Google HomeSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose Mozilla WebThings Gateway if…

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

Choose Mosquitto if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Rock-solid reliability
  • Ubiquitous in smart homes
Mosquitto details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mozilla WebThings Gateway or Mosquitto better?

Mosquitto is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mozilla WebThings Gateway if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Mozilla WebThings Gateway and Mosquitto free and open-source?

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

Can I run Mozilla WebThings Gateway and Mosquitto with Docker?

Mozilla WebThings Gateway: yes. Mosquitto: yes.

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