Bubble Card vs ThingsBoard
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?
Bubble Card
Minimalist mobile-first card pack for Home Assistant
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | Bubble Card | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,481 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | SmartThings app | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Choose Bubble Card if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Bubble Card or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while Bubble Card is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bubble Card and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. Bubble Card is licensed under MIT and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bubble Card and ThingsBoard with Docker?
Bubble Card: check the project docs for container support. ThingsBoard: yes.