SHSelfHostIndex

Home Assistant vs OpenRemote

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 Open-source home automation that puts privacy first VS OP OpenRemote IoT Asset management, Flow Rules and WHEN-THEN rules, Data
FeatureHome AssistantOpenRemote
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePythonJava
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, one-clickbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 89,795★ 1,835
First released20132026
ReplacesSmartThings, Google Home—

Why pick each one

Choose Home Assistant if…

  • Huge device support
  • Local control and privacy
  • Very active community
Home Assistant details

Choose OpenRemote if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Java
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
OpenRemote details

Frequently asked questions

Is Home Assistant or OpenRemote better?

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

Are Home Assistant and OpenRemote free and open-source?

Yes. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenRemote under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Home Assistant and OpenRemote with Docker?

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

Related comparisons