# Observal vs Zigbee2MQTT

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

| | Observal | Zigbee2MQTT |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 65/100 | 76/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #40 of 209 in AI Agents | #5 of 104 in Home Automation |
| GitHub stars | 4 533 | 15 762 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 159 ✓ | +98 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 33 ✓ | 15 |
| Latest release | v1.15.1 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ | 2.14.2 · 1 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Python | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Zigbee2MQTT scores 76/100 against 65/100 for Observal, so it is the safer default.

Observal ships more often: 33 stable releases in the past year, against 15 for Zigbee2MQTT.

Observal is growing faster right now (+1 159 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Observal](https://selfhost.directory/project/observal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/observal.md)
- [Zigbee2MQTT](https://selfhost.directory/project/zigbee2mqtt) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/zigbee2mqtt.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/observal-vs-zigbee2mqtt