SHSelfHostIndex

Home 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?
Home Assistant Open-source home automation that puts privacy first VS HO Home Assistant Operating System Embedded operating system optimized for Home Assistant
FeatureHome AssistantHome Assistant Operating System
Deploy effort≈5-minute setup≈5-minute setup
Health score100 · Excellent91 · Excellent
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, one-clickone-click, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 91,123★ 7,492
First released20132019
ReplacesSmartThings, Google HomeSmartThings, Hubitat

What are Home Assistant and Home Assistant Operating System?

Home Assistant

Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform that integrates thousands of smart devices and runs automations locally. It targets anyone wanting private, vendor-neutral smart home control. It is deployed as an OS image, Docker, or supervised install.

  • Integrates thousands of devices
  • Local-first automations
  • Add-on ecosystem
  • Powerful dashboards

Read the full Home 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 →

Home Assistant vs Home Assistant Operating System: key differences

Both projects are written in Python. Home Assistant is the more established project (first released 2013), while Home Assistant Operating System arrived in 2019. Home Assistant has the considerably larger community, at 91,123 GitHub stars versus 7,492. Home Assistant lists first-class Docker deployment; Home Assistant Operating System does not.

Why pick each one

Choose Home Assistant if…

  • Huge device support
  • Local control and privacy
  • Very active community

Watch out for

  • Learning curve for automations
  • Occasional breaking updates
Home 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 Home Assistant or Home Assistant Operating System better?

Neither is universally better. Home Assistant has the larger community, while Home Assistant Operating System is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

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

Yes. Home 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 Home Assistant and Home Assistant Operating System with Docker?

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

Related comparisons