FHEM vs Home Assistant Supervisor
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
FHEM
Perl-based server for home automation tasks
VS
Home Assistant Supervisor
Manages the Home Assistant add-on ecosystem
| Feature | FHEM | Home Assistant Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Perl | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22 | ★ 2,226 |
| First released | 2005 | 2017 |
| Replaces | SmartThings | SmartThings |
What are FHEM and Home Assistant Supervisor?
FHEM
FHEM is a long-standing, GPL-licensed server for home automation used to control lights, heating, alarms, and many other devices. It supports a vast range of protocols through community modules.
- Vast protocol support
- Community module library
- Lightweight Perl server
- Long-term reliability
Home Assistant Supervisor
Home Assistant Supervisor is the component that manages the Home Assistant Core installation, add-ons, backups, and updates. It enables the add-on store that extends a Home Assistant system.
- Add-on store management
- Automated backups
- Update orchestration
- System health checks
FHEM vs Home Assistant Supervisor: key differences
FHEM is written in Perl, while Home Assistant Supervisor is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for FHEM versus Apache-2.0 for Home Assistant Supervisor. FHEM is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. FHEM is the more established project (first released 2005), while Home Assistant Supervisor arrived in 2017. Home Assistant Supervisor has the considerably larger community, at 2,226 GitHub stars versus 22.
Why pick each one
Choose FHEM if…
- Extremely mature
- Runs on modest hardware
Watch out for
- Dated, technical interface
- Configuration is arcane
Choose Home Assistant Supervisor if…
- Enables one-click add-ons
- Simplifies maintenance
Watch out for
- Tied to supervised installs
- Not standalone
Frequently asked questions
Is FHEM or Home Assistant Supervisor better?
Home Assistant Supervisor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider FHEM if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FHEM and Home Assistant Supervisor free and open-source?
Yes. FHEM is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Home Assistant Supervisor under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FHEM and Home Assistant Supervisor with Docker?
FHEM: yes. Home Assistant Supervisor: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FHEM or Home Assistant Supervisor?
FHEM has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.