Home Assistant vs openHAB
Both are alternatives to Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as openHAB vs Home Assistant — same comparison, one verdict.
Home Assistant and openHAB are closely matched on ownership (95 vs 88) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Home Assistant
TOP PICKLocal-first home automation on hardware you own.
Home Assistant is the open-source home-automation platform that runs entirely on your own device — a Raspberry Pi, a mini-PC, or the purpose-built Home Assistant Green/Yellow. It integrates thousands of devices locally, so your home keeps working with the internet down and nothing phones home unless you allow it.
openHAB
Vendor-neutral, local home automation from the Eclipse Foundation.
openHAB is a Java-based, open-source automation platform that runs locally and integrates a wide range of technologies behind a vendor-neutral abstraction, so your rules aren't tied to any one manufacturer's cloud.
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Home Assistant | openHAB | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 95 | 88 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | EPL-2.0 |
| Pricing | Free / open-source (runs on your own hardware) | Free / open-source |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 4 GB once you add add-ons and a database | 2 GB — the JVM is the floor |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $0 on a Pi you own, or $15–25/mo on a VPS — though local is the right answer | $0 on hardware you own |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 2 hours, then months of tinkering | 3 hours; the concepts take longer than the install |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Active. Monthly releases occasionally ship breaking changes to integrations. | Moderate. Major versions have historically required configuration migration. |
Home Assistant is Macrostack's recommended Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs alternative, so it's our pick here.
Home Assistant
Strengths
- +Local control — works offline
- +Integrates thousands of devices and brands
- +Huge, active community
Trade-offs
- −Initial setup takes some tinkering
- −You maintain your own hardware
openHAB
Strengths
- +Runs locally, vendor-neutral
- +Very broad protocol support
- +Backed by the Eclipse Foundation
Trade-offs
- −Rule syntax has a learning curve
- −Smaller community than Home Assistant
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Home Assistant
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and local control — works offline.
Choose openHAB
if runs locally, vendor-neutral.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — initial setup takes some tinkering, and rule syntax has a learning curve. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Self-hosting Home Assistant
4 GB once you add add-ons and a database RAM · 2 hours, then months of tinkering
$0 on a Pi you own, or $15–25/mo on a VPS — though local is the right answer
Self-hosting openHAB
2 GB — the JVM is the floor RAM · 3 hours; the concepts take longer than the install
$0 on hardware you own
Home Assistant vs openHAB — common questions
Is Home Assistant a better fit than openHAB for smart home?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Home Assistant scores 95 to openHAB's 88 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. openHAB earns its place on a different axis — runs locally, vendor-neutral. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Home Assistant keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. openHAB is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Home Assistant or openHAB?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Home Assistant and openHAB both alternatives to Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs?
Yes — both appear in our Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
More Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs head-to-heads
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-07-04. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.