HACS vs Tasmota
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?
HACS
Community store for custom Home Assistant integrations and themes
VS
Tasmota
Open-source firmware for ESP-based smart devices
| Feature | HACS | Tasmota |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 16 MB |
| Deployment | source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,603 | ★ 24,662 |
| First released | 2019 | 2016 |
| Replaces | SmartThings community add-ons | Tuya Cloud |
Why pick each one
Choose HACS if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 7.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is HACS or Tasmota better?
Neither is universally better. Tasmota has the larger community, while HACS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are HACS and Tasmota free and open-source?
Yes. HACS is licensed under MIT and Tasmota under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run HACS and Tasmota with Docker?
HACS: check the project docs for container support. Tasmota: check the project docs for container support.