SHSelfHostIndex

Gladys Assistant vs Home Assistant Operating System

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?
GL Gladys Assistant Privacy-first home automation platform for everyone VS HO Home Assistant Operating System Embedded operating system optimized for Home Assistant
FeatureGladys AssistantHome Assistant Operating System
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setup≈5-minute setup
Health score88 · Excellent91 · Excellent
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaScriptPython
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalone-click, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 3,201★ 7,492
First released20172019
ReplacesSmartThings, Google HomeSmartThings, Hubitat

What are Gladys Assistant and Home Assistant Operating System?

Gladys Assistant

Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source home automation program that runs locally on your hardware. It controls smart devices, scenes, and schedules through a clean web and mobile interface.

  • Runs fully locally
  • Device, scene, and schedule control
  • Clean web and mobile UI
  • Energy monitoring

Read the full Gladys Assistant guide →

Home Assistant Operating System

Home Assistant Operating System is a minimal embedded OS designed to run the Home Assistant smart home platform with add-on support. It manages updates and add-ons through the Supervisor.

  • Purpose-built OS for HA
  • Add-on store via Supervisor
  • Automatic updates
  • Runs on Pi and x86

Read the full Home Assistant Operating System guide →

Gladys Assistant vs Home Assistant Operating System: key differences

Gladys Assistant is written in JavaScript, while Home Assistant Operating System is built with Python. Gladys Assistant is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Home Assistant Operating System. Gladys Assistant is the more established project (first released 2017), while Home Assistant Operating System arrived in 2019. Home Assistant Operating System has the considerably larger community, at 7,492 GitHub stars versus 3,201. Gladys Assistant lists first-class Docker deployment; Home Assistant Operating System does not.

Why pick each one

Choose Gladys Assistant if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • Beginner-friendly

Watch out for

  • Smaller integration catalog
  • Less powerful automations than HA
Gladys Assistant details

Choose Home Assistant Operating System if…

  • Easiest full-featured HA install
  • Managed add-ons

Watch out for

  • Takes over the whole device
  • Less general-purpose
Home Assistant Operating System details

Frequently asked questions

Is Gladys Assistant or Home Assistant Operating System better?

Neither is universally better. Home Assistant Operating System has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Gladys Assistant and Home Assistant Operating System free and open-source?

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

Can I run Gladys Assistant and Home Assistant Operating System with Docker?

Gladys Assistant: yes. Home Assistant Operating System: check the project docs for container support.

Which is lighter on resources, Gladys Assistant or Home Assistant Operating System?

Gladys Assistant has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Home Assistant Operating System. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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