openWakeWord 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?
openWakeWord
Open-source wake word detection library
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | openWakeWord | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Jupyter Notebook | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,637 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Picovoice | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is openWakeWord or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while openWakeWord is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are openWakeWord and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. openWakeWord is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run openWakeWord and ThingsBoard with Docker?
openWakeWord: yes. ThingsBoard: yes.