OpenBeken 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?
OpenBeken
Tasmota-like firmware for non-ESP smart devices
VS
ThingsBoard
Open-source IoT platform for device management and data
| Feature | OpenBeken | ThingsBoard |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,230 | ★ 22,200 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Tuya Cloud | AWS IoT, Azure IoT |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenBeken if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenBeken or ThingsBoard better?
Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while OpenBeken is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenBeken and ThingsBoard free and open-source?
Yes. OpenBeken is licensed under MIT and ThingsBoard under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenBeken and ThingsBoard with Docker?
OpenBeken: check the project docs for container support. ThingsBoard: yes.