ESPHome vs Mushroom
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?
ESPHome
Configure ESP devices with simple YAML
VS
Mushroom
Modern minimalist card collection for Home Assistant dashboards
| Feature | ESPHome | Mushroom |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,505 | ★ 5,098 |
| First released | 2018 | 2022 |
| Replaces | SmartThings | proprietary smart home apps |
Why pick each one
Choose Mushroom if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is ESPHome or Mushroom better?
Neither is universally better. ESPHome has the larger community, while Mushroom is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ESPHome and Mushroom free and open-source?
Yes. ESPHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mushroom under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ESPHome and Mushroom with Docker?
ESPHome: yes. Mushroom: check the project docs for container support.