Home Assistant Supervisor vs OpenHAB Cloud
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 Supervisor | OpenHAB Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 75 · Good |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | EPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,226 | ★ 306 |
| First released | 2017 | 2014 |
| Replaces | SmartThings | SmartThings |
What are Home Assistant Supervisor and OpenHAB Cloud?
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
OpenHAB Cloud
openHAB Cloud is the self-hostable companion service that provides remote access, notifications, and integrations for openHAB installations. It bridges local openHAB instances to external services securely.
- Remote openHAB access
- Push notifications
- IFTTT and voice integrations
- Self-hostable backend
Home Assistant Supervisor vs OpenHAB Cloud: key differences
Home Assistant Supervisor is written in Python, while OpenHAB Cloud is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Home Assistant Supervisor versus EPL-2.0 for OpenHAB Cloud. OpenHAB Cloud is the more established project (first released 2014), while Home Assistant Supervisor arrived in 2017. Home Assistant Supervisor has the considerably larger community, at 2,226 GitHub stars versus 306.
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 OpenHAB Cloud if…
- Keeps data under your control
- Enables remote control
Watch out for
- Requires MongoDB
- Setup is involved
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant Supervisor or OpenHAB Cloud better?
Home Assistant Supervisor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenHAB Cloud if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Home Assistant Supervisor and OpenHAB Cloud free and open-source?
Yes. Home Assistant Supervisor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenHAB Cloud under EPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Home Assistant Supervisor and OpenHAB Cloud with Docker?
Home Assistant Supervisor: yes. OpenHAB Cloud: yes.