Mushroom vs Zigbee2MQTT
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?
Mushroom
Modern minimalist card collection for Home Assistant dashboards
VS
Zigbee2MQTT
Bridge Zigbee devices to MQTT without vendor hubs
| Feature | Mushroom | Zigbee2MQTT |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,098 | ★ 15,477 |
| First released | 2022 | 2018 |
| Replaces | proprietary smart home apps | SmartThings |
Why pick each one
Choose Mushroom if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Zigbee2MQTT if…
- Frees devices from vendor hubs
- Wide device support
- Local control
Frequently asked questions
Is Mushroom or Zigbee2MQTT better?
Neither is universally better. Zigbee2MQTT has the larger community, while Mushroom is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mushroom and Zigbee2MQTT free and open-source?
Yes. Mushroom is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zigbee2MQTT under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mushroom and Zigbee2MQTT with Docker?
Mushroom: check the project docs for container support. Zigbee2MQTT: yes.