OpenRemote 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?
OpenRemote
IoT Asset management, Flow Rules and WHEN-THEN rules, Data
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | OpenRemote | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,835 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2026 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenRemote if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenRemote or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while OpenRemote is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenRemote and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. OpenRemote is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenRemote and ThingsBoard with Docker?
OpenRemote: check the project docs for container support. ThingsBoard: yes.