Both are free. Both are open-source. Both run locally on your own hardware. But they take wildly different approaches to smart home automation. Here's the real comparison, no marketing fluff.
Best for most people. Massive device support (2,600+ integrations), visual editors, monthly updates, huge community. Easy to start, powerful enough to grow into. The clear winner for home users.
Best for Java developers and enterprise-minded users who want strict architectural separation. Solid platform, but smaller community, fewer integrations (~450), steeper learning curve. Powerful if you invest the time.
Home Assistant: 2,600+ integrations. openHAB: ~450 bindings. Home Assistant supports almost every smart home brand out of the box. Newer devices like Matter, Thread, and brands like SwitchBot, Govee, and Roborock often only support Home Assistant. openHAB covers the essentials (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Hue, Sonos) but has notable gaps.
Home Assistant wins easily. Auto-discovery finds most devices. Visual editors for automations, scenes, and dashboards. openHAB requires manually defining "things," "channels," and "items" before anything works. It's a steeper climb, especially for non-developers.
Both are powerful, differently. Home Assistant has a visual automation editor, blueprints (shareable templates), and Node-RED support. openHAB uses its own rule engine (DSL, JavaScript, or Blockly). Home Assistant's approach is more accessible. openHAB's rules are more flexible for complex logic if you write code.
Home Assistant is miles ahead. Custom dashboards with dozens of card types, Mushroom cards, custom themes via HACS, wall-mounted tablet support. openHAB's UI (MainUI, introduced in v3) is functional but limited. Fewer community cards, fewer customization options, less polish.
Not even close. Home Assistant's forum has 500,000+ members. HACS (community store) has thousands of custom integrations and cards. openHAB's community is active but much smaller. Fewer tutorials, fewer YouTube videos, fewer Reddit discussions. When you hit a problem, finding an answer is harder.
Home Assistant ships monthly. Each release adds new integrations, UI improvements, and features. The pace is remarkable. openHAB releases are less frequent, and the changelog is smaller. Home Assistant also has a dedicated company (Nabu Casa) funding full-time developers. openHAB is volunteer-driven.
It wouldn't be honest to skip this. There are genuine reasons some people prefer openHAB.
openHAB separates "things" (physical devices), "channels" (capabilities), and "items" (abstract representations). This abstraction makes it easier to swap hardware without changing automations. It's over-engineered for most homes, but it's a real advantage in complex or industrial setups.
Built on Java and OSGi, openHAB is familiar territory for enterprise Java developers. If you already think in terms of bundles and services, you'll feel right at home. The codebase is clean and well-structured.
openHAB's persistence system for storing historical data is flexible and well-documented. You can use InfluxDB, MySQL, RRD4j, or others. Home Assistant also supports this via recorder + InfluxDB/Grafana, but openHAB had it more neatly integrated earlier.
openHAB prioritizes stability over features. Breaking changes are rare. If you set something up and want it to "just work" for years without touching it, openHAB's slower pace can be a feature, not a bug.
| Feature | Home Assistant | openHAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (open-source) | Free (open-source) |
| Integrations | 2,600+ | ~450 |
| Auto-discovery | Yes, excellent | Partial |
| Visual Automation Editor | Yes | Blockly (limited) |
| Blueprints / Templates | Yes (shareable) | No |
| Dashboard Customization | Excellent (HACS cards) | Basic |
| Matter / Thread | Yes (native) | Experimental |
| Voice Assistants | Assist (local), Alexa, Google | HABot (limited) |
| Mobile App | iOS + Android (excellent) | iOS + Android (basic) |
| Community Store | HACS (thousands of add-ons) | Marketplace (limited) |
| Update Frequency | Monthly | ~Quarterly |
| Backed by Company | Yes (Nabu Casa) | No (volunteer) |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Hardware Requirements | Pi 4+ or mini PC | Pi 4+ or mini PC |
| Local Processing | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud Required | No (optional Nabu Casa) | No (optional myopenHAB) |
You want the largest device ecosystem. You prefer visual editors over config files. You want monthly updates with new features. You care about Matter and Thread support. You want a massive community for help. You're building a home setup, not an industrial one.
You're a Java developer who loves the OSGi architecture. You want strict separation between physical devices and logical items. You prefer stability over cutting-edge features. You're building something more industrial or enterprise-scale. You don't mind a steeper learning curve.
Five years ago, this was a closer comparison. Today, Home Assistant has pulled so far ahead in community size, device support, and user experience that openHAB is mainly recommended for specific use cases. If you're starting fresh in 2026, Home Assistant is the default recommendation.
Already on openHAB and thinking about switching? Here's the good news: since both platforms talk to the same physical devices, migration is about reconfiguring, not replacing hardware.
If you use a Zigbee coordinator (like a SkyConnect or ConBee) or Z-Wave stick, you'll need to re-pair your devices with Home Assistant. This means resetting each device and adding it fresh. It takes time but isn't technically difficult.
Wi-Fi devices (Shelly, Tasmota, ESPHome, Tuya) usually auto-discover in Home Assistant. If they use MQTT, just point Home Assistant's MQTT integration at your existing broker. Minimal effort.
These don't transfer directly. You'll need to recreate your openHAB rules as Home Assistant automations. The visual editor makes this easier than it sounds, and there are thousands of community blueprints for common scenarios.
If you stored data in InfluxDB, you can keep using the same database. Home Assistant's InfluxDB integration will continue writing to it. Other persistence formats may need conversion or a fresh start.
For most people, no. Home Assistant has a much larger community, more integrations (2,600+ vs ~450), easier setup, and faster development. openHAB is better suited for enterprise environments or users who specifically want a Java-based system with strict architectural separation between things, channels, and items.
Yes. Since both platforms control the same physical devices (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi), migration means reconfiguring your devices in Home Assistant rather than transferring data. Most Zigbee and Z-Wave devices just need to be re-paired. Wi-Fi devices usually auto-discover in Home Assistant.
Yes, openHAB is actively maintained with regular releases. However, its development pace is much slower than Home Assistant, which ships updates every month. The openHAB community is also significantly smaller, which means fewer add-ons, fewer tutorials, and slower support.
Home Assistant, by a wide margin. It auto-discovers most devices, has a visual automation editor, and works out of the box with minimal configuration. openHAB requires manually defining things, channels, items, and rules before anything works. The learning curve is significantly steeper.
There is significant overlap. Both support Zigbee, Z-Wave, MQTT, Philips Hue, Sonos, and many other brands. But Home Assistant supports far more devices out of the box. Many newer brands (SwitchBot, Govee, Roborock, Ecovacs) and protocols (Matter, Thread) add Home Assistant support first, or exclusively.
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