SHSelfHostIndex

ThingsBoard 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?
TH ThingsBoard Open-source IoT platform for device management and data VS ZW Zwave-JS Server Small server wrapping the Z-Wave JS driver over WebSocket
FeatureThingsBoardZwave-JS Server
CategoryHome AutomationHome Automation
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaTypeScript
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 22,200★ 162
First released20172021
ReplacesAWS IoT, Azure IoTSmartThings

Why pick each one

Choose ThingsBoard if…

  • Powerful IoT platform
  • Highly customizable dashboards
ThingsBoard details

Choose Zwave-JS Server if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is ThingsBoard or Zwave-JS Server better?

Neither is universally better. ThingsBoard has the larger community, while Zwave-JS Server is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

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

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

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

ThingsBoard: yes. Zwave-JS Server: yes.

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