SHSelfHostIndex

Home Assistant Operating System vs Zwave-JS Server

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?
HO Home Assistant Operating System Embedded operating system optimized for Home Assistant VS ZW Zwave-JS Server Small server wrapping the Z-Wave JS driver over WebSocket
FeatureHome Assistant Operating SystemZwave-JS Server
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB128 MB
Deploymentone-click, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,390★ 162
First released20192021
ReplacesSmartThings, HubitatSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose Home Assistant Operating System if…

  • Easiest full-featured HA install
  • Managed add-ons
Home Assistant Operating System details

Choose Zwave-JS Server if…

  • Decouples driver from clients
  • Reliable
Zwave-JS Server details

Frequently asked questions

Is Home Assistant Operating System or Zwave-JS Server better?

Home Assistant Operating System is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Zwave-JS Server if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Home Assistant Operating System and Zwave-JS Server free and open-source?

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

Can I run Home Assistant Operating System and Zwave-JS Server with Docker?

Home Assistant Operating System: check the project docs for container support. Zwave-JS Server: yes.

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