SHSelfHostIndex

EMQX vs Home Assistant Companion

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?
EM EMQX Scalable MQTT broker VS HO Home Assistant Companion Self-hosted backend pairing for Home Assistant mobile apps
FeatureEMQXHome Assistant Companion
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageErlangKotlin
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentdockersource
GitHub stars★ 16,599★ 3,788
First released20262020
Replaces—Google Home app

Why pick each one

Choose EMQX if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 16.6k GitHub stars
  • Written in Erlang
EMQX details

Choose Home Assistant Companion if…

  • Turns phones into sensors
  • Tight HA integration
Home Assistant Companion details

Frequently asked questions

Is EMQX or Home Assistant Companion better?

Neither is universally better. EMQX has the larger community, while Home Assistant Companion is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are EMQX and Home Assistant Companion free and open-source?

Yes. EMQX is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Home Assistant Companion under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run EMQX and Home Assistant Companion with Docker?

EMQX: yes. Home Assistant Companion: check the project docs for container support.

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