EMQX vs card-mod
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?
| Feature | EMQX | card-mod |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Erlang | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,599 | ★ 1,773 |
| First released | 2026 | 2019 |
| Replaces | — | proprietary dashboard theming tools |
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
Choose card-mod if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is EMQX or card-mod better?
Neither is universally better. EMQX has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are EMQX and card-mod free and open-source?
Yes. EMQX is licensed under Apache-2.0 and card-mod under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run EMQX and card-mod with Docker?
EMQX: yes. card-mod: check the project docs for container support.