SHSelfHostIndex

Home Assistant Supervisor vs Zwave-JS Server

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 Supervisor Manages the Home Assistant add-on ecosystem VS ZW Zwave-JS Server Small server wrapping the Z-Wave JS driver over WebSocket
FeatureHome Assistant SupervisorZwave-JS Server
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score86 · Excellent74 · Good
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 2,226★ 164
First released20172021
ReplacesSmartThingsSmartThings

What are Home Assistant Supervisor and Zwave-JS Server?

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

Read the full Home Assistant Supervisor guide →

Zwave-JS Server

Z-Wave JS Server is a small server that exposes the Z-Wave JS driver over a WebSocket API. It allows multiple clients, such as Home Assistant, to control a Z-Wave network simultaneously.

  • WebSocket Z-Wave API
  • Multi-client support
  • Built on Z-Wave JS
  • Lightweight server

Home Assistant Supervisor vs Zwave-JS Server: key differences

Home Assistant Supervisor is written in Python, while Zwave-JS Server is built with TypeScript. Zwave-JS Server is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. Home Assistant Supervisor is the more established project (first released 2017), while Zwave-JS Server arrived in 2021. Home Assistant Supervisor has the considerably larger community, at 2,226 GitHub stars versus 164.

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
Home Assistant Supervisor details

Choose Zwave-JS Server if…

  • Decouples driver from clients
  • Reliable

Watch out for

  • Headless, no UI
  • Z-Wave only
Zwave-JS Server details

Frequently asked questions

Is Home Assistant Supervisor or Zwave-JS Server better?

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

Are Home Assistant Supervisor and Zwave-JS Server free and open-source?

Yes. Home Assistant Supervisor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zwave-JS Server under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Home Assistant Supervisor and Zwave-JS Server with Docker?

Home Assistant Supervisor: yes. Zwave-JS Server: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Home Assistant Supervisor or Zwave-JS Server?

Zwave-JS Server has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Home Assistant Supervisor. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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