Awtrix Light vs ThingsBoard
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?
Awtrix Light
Open firmware for LED matrix smart home displays
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | Awtrix Light | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,342 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | LaMetric Time | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Choose Awtrix Light if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Awtrix Light or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while Awtrix Light is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Awtrix Light and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. Awtrix Light is licensed under MIT and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Awtrix Light and ThingsBoard with Docker?
Awtrix Light: check the project docs for container support. ThingsBoard: yes.