# CUPS vs ESPHome

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | CUPS | ESPHome |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 67/100 | 78/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Device Management | #4 of 104 in Home Automation |
| GitHub stars | 1 787 | 11 977 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +34 | +255 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 46 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.4.20 · 5 Oct 2026 | 2026.10.1 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | C | C |

## Which one should you pick?

ESPHome scores 78/100 against 67/100 for CUPS, so it is the safer default.

ESPHome ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for CUPS.

ESPHome is growing faster right now (+255 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [CUPS](https://selfhost.directory/project/cups) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/cups.md)
- [ESPHome](https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/cups-vs-esphome