What is Home Assistant OS used for?

Home Assistant OS is a Buildroot-based Linux OS, formerly HassOS, built to run Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi, ODROID and x86-64 devices. It is a good fit for dedicated home automation hub on a Raspberry Pi and running Home Assistant on a mini PC.

Is Home Assistant OS open source?

Yes. Home Assistant OS is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at home-assistant/operating-system and is written mainly in Python.

Is Home Assistant OS free?

Yes. Home Assistant OS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Home Assistant OS?

Yes. Home Assistant OS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Home Assistant OS an alternative to?

Home Assistant OS is an open-source alternative to SmartThings, Google Home, Apple Home and Amazon Alexa. Other open-source alternatives to SmartThings include Home Assistant, openHAB and Gladys Assistant.

Is Home Assistant OS actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Home Assistant OS was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 18.3, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 7.5k stars on GitHub.

Home Assistant OS: open-source alternative to SmartThings

About Home Assistant OS

Home Assistant Operating System, formerly called HassOS, is a Linux distribution tuned for hosting Home Assistant and its apps. It is aimed at people who want a dedicated home automation appliance rather than installing Home Assistant on top of a general-purpose distribution.

It uses Docker as its container engine and by default deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container, which in turn controls Home Assistant Core and its apps in separate containers. The system is built with Buildroot instead of being based on a distribution such as Ubuntu. It targets single board computers such as the Raspberry Pi and ODROID, and it also supports x86-64 systems with UEFI.

Listed features include a lightweight, memory-efficient design, minimized I/O, over-the-air updates, offline updates and a modular architecture. The project is written mostly in Python, licensed under Apache-2.0, and its supported hardware is defined in architecture decision records, with the official getting started guide covering installation.

Key features

Lightweight, memory-efficient Linux system
Over-the-air and offline updates
Docker-based modular architecture
Runs the Home Assistant Supervisor
Supports Raspberry Pi, ODROID and x86-64
Minimized disk I/O

Good fit for

→Dedicated home automation hub on a Raspberry Pi
→Running Home Assistant on a mini PC

Built with: Python; Docker
Tags: home-assistant; home-automation; iot; buildroot; raspberry-pi; operating-system; docker; linux

Home Assistant OS: questions and answers

What is Home Assistant OS used for?: Home Assistant OS is a Buildroot-based Linux OS, formerly HassOS, built to run Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi, ODROID and x86-64 devices. It is a good fit for dedicated home automation hub on a Raspberry Pi and running Home Assistant on a mini PC.
Is Home Assistant OS open source?: Yes. Home Assistant OS is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at home-assistant/operating-system and is written mainly in Python.
Is Home Assistant OS free?: Yes. Home Assistant OS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Home Assistant OS?: Yes. Home Assistant OS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Home Assistant OS an alternative to?: Home Assistant OS is an open-source alternative to SmartThings, Google Home, Apple Home and Amazon Alexa. Other open-source alternatives to SmartThings include Home Assistant, openHAB and Gladys Assistant.
Is Home Assistant OS actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Home Assistant OS was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 18.3, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 7.5k stars on GitHub.