LHA 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?
LHA
Light Home Automation application that is fully extensible using
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | LHA | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Lua | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2025 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Choose LHA if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Lua
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is LHA or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while LHA is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are LHA and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. LHA is licensed under MIT and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LHA and ThingsBoard with Docker?
LHA: check the project docs for container support. ThingsBoard: yes.