openWakeWord 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?
openWakeWord
Open-source wake word detection library
VS
Zigbee2MQTT
Bridge Zigbee devices to MQTT without vendor hubs
| Feature | openWakeWord | Zigbee2MQTT |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Jupyter Notebook | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,637 | ★ 15,477 |
| First released | 2023 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Picovoice | SmartThings |
Why pick each one
Choose Zigbee2MQTT if…
- Frees devices from vendor hubs
- Wide device support
- Local control
Frequently asked questions
Is openWakeWord or Zigbee2MQTT better?
Neither is universally better. Zigbee2MQTT has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are openWakeWord and Zigbee2MQTT free and open-source?
Yes. openWakeWord is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zigbee2MQTT under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run openWakeWord and Zigbee2MQTT with Docker?
openWakeWord: yes. Zigbee2MQTT: yes.