# ESPHome vs unleash

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

| | ESPHome | unleash |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 ✓ | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #4 of 104 in Home Automation | #1 of 8 in Feature Flags |
| GitHub stars | 11 977 | 13 912 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +255 ✓ | +90 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 46 ✓ | 15 |
| Latest release | 2026.10.1 · 27 Oct 2026 | v8.3.0 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | C | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

ESPHome scores 78/100 against 75/100 for unleash, so it is the safer default.

ESPHome ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 15 for unleash.

If you want the quickest setup, unleash is easier to run; ESPHome needs more configuration.

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

## Details

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

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