SHSelfHostIndex

Mosquitto 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?
MO Mosquitto Lightweight MQTT message broker VS ZW Zwave-JS Server Small server wrapping the Z-Wave JS driver over WebSocket
FeatureMosquittoZwave-JS Server
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseEPL-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageCTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 11,101★ 162
First released20092021
ReplacesSmartThingsSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose Mosquitto if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Rock-solid reliability
  • Ubiquitous in smart homes
Mosquitto details

Choose Zwave-JS Server if…

  • Decouples driver from clients
  • Reliable
Zwave-JS Server details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mosquitto or Zwave-JS Server better?

Mosquitto is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Zwave-JS Server if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Mosquitto and Zwave-JS Server free and open-source?

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

Can I run Mosquitto and Zwave-JS Server with Docker?

Mosquitto: yes. Zwave-JS Server: yes.

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