Home Assistant Supervisor vs Mosquitto
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Mosquitto
Lightweight MQTT message broker
| Feature | Home Assistant Supervisor | Mosquitto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | EPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,226 | ★ 11,221 |
| First released | 2017 | 2009 |
| Replaces | SmartThings | SmartThings |
What are Home Assistant Supervisor and Mosquitto?
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
Mosquitto
Eclipse Mosquitto is a lightweight, open-source MQTT broker widely used as the messaging backbone for smart home setups. It targets users connecting IoT devices and automation tools. It is deployed via Docker or packages.
- Standards-compliant MQTT broker
- Tiny resource footprint
- TLS and authentication
- Bridges between brokers
Home Assistant Supervisor vs Mosquitto: key differences
Home Assistant Supervisor is written in Python, while Mosquitto is built with C. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Home Assistant Supervisor versus EPL-2.0 for Mosquitto. Mosquitto is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. Mosquitto is the more established project (first released 2009), while Home Assistant Supervisor arrived in 2017. Mosquitto has the considerably larger community, at 11,221 GitHub stars versus 2,226.
Why pick each one
Choose Home Assistant Supervisor if…
- Enables one-click add-ons
- Simplifies maintenance
Watch out for
- Tied to supervised installs
- Not standalone
Choose Mosquitto if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Rock-solid reliability
- Ubiquitous in smart homes
Watch out for
- Just a broker, not automation
- Minimal management UI
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant Supervisor or Mosquitto better?
Mosquitto 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 Supervisor and Mosquitto free and open-source?
Yes. Home Assistant Supervisor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mosquitto under EPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Home Assistant Supervisor and Mosquitto with Docker?
Home Assistant Supervisor: yes. Mosquitto: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Home Assistant Supervisor or Mosquitto?
Mosquitto has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.