ESPHomevsShields
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| ESPHome | Shields | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #4 of 104 in Home Automation | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 11 982 | 27 333 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +260 | +127 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 46 | 0 |
| Latest release | 2026.10.1 · 27 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | C | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
Shields scores 80/100 against 78/100 for ESPHome, so it is the safer default.
ESPHome ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; ESPHome needs more configuration.
ESPHome is growing faster right now (+260 stars in 30 days).
ESPHome details →Shields details →
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