Home Assistant vs Scrypted
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Home Assistant | Scrypted |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, one-click | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 91,123 | ★ 5,975 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | SmartThings, Google Home | Google Home |
What are Home Assistant and Scrypted?
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
Scrypted
Scrypted is a high-performance home video integration and automation platform that unifies cameras across ecosystems. It targets users bridging cameras to HomeKit, Google, and Alexa. It is deployed via Docker.
- Unifies cameras across ecosystems
- HomeKit Secure Video support
- Hardware-accelerated processing
- Plugin architecture
Home Assistant vs Scrypted: key differences
Home Assistant is written in Python, while Scrypted is built with TypeScript. Home Assistant is the more established project (first released 2013), while Scrypted arrived in 2021. Home Assistant has the considerably larger community, at 91,123 GitHub stars versus 5,975.
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
Choose Scrypted if…
- Excellent camera integration
- Cross-ecosystem
- Fast
Watch out for
- Camera-focused
- Setup takes effort
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant or Scrypted 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 Scrypted free and open-source?
Yes. Home Assistant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Scrypted under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Home Assistant and Scrypted with Docker?
Home Assistant: yes. Scrypted: yes.