SHSelfHostIndex

Home Assistant Operating System 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.

Not the right match-up?
HO Home Assistant Operating System Embedded operating system optimized for Home Assistant VS HO Home Assistant Supervisor Manages the Home Assistant add-on ecosystem
FeatureHome Assistant Operating SystemHome Assistant Supervisor
Deploy effort≈5-minute setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score91 · Excellent86 · Excellent
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentone-click, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 7,492★ 2,226
First released20192017
ReplacesSmartThings, HubitatSmartThings

What are Home Assistant Operating System and Home Assistant Supervisor?

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 →

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

Read the full Home Assistant Supervisor guide →

Home Assistant Operating System vs Home Assistant Supervisor: key differences

Both projects are written in Python. Home Assistant Supervisor is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Home Assistant Operating System. Home Assistant Supervisor 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 2,226. Home Assistant Supervisor lists first-class Docker deployment; Home Assistant Operating System does not.

Why pick each one

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

Choose Home Assistant Supervisor if…

  • Enables one-click add-ons
  • Simplifies maintenance

Watch out for

  • Tied to supervised installs
  • Not standalone
Home Assistant Supervisor details

Frequently asked questions

Is Home Assistant Operating System or Home Assistant Supervisor better?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Home Assistant Supervisor 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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