What open source home automation software exists? What are the differences between them?

Question

I just bought my first apartment and I am now looking to setup a cheap home automation system.

I would like to control :

• light
• electric shutter
• heater thermostat
• other stuff in the future

I am looking to an open source software that I could install into a cheap linux box and which could be accessible from internet (mobile or desktop) with a nice UI. It would be best if it was technology independant (not X10 only for example) and plugin base to be able to add support for a new specific device in the futur.

I am also ready to do some code hacking to make it better as I am a web developer. I am a software and electronics engineer so not afraid of new tech.

A good community supporting the software is also a plus.

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For info this is what I found with a first internet search :

• http://www.domogik.org/
• http://www.openami.de/
• http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/
• http://lifedomus.blogspot.com/
• http://www.opensourceautomation.com/
• http://www.linuxha.com/linuxha/
• http://www.catrpillr.com/

Answer 1

Collecting the previous suggestions, I believe this is a good place to start a wiki discussion, since it's not a direct Q/A:

• http://www.domogik.org/
• http://www.openami.de/
• http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/
• http://lifedomus.blogspot.com/
• http://www.opensourceautomation.com/
• http://www.linuxha.com/linuxha/
• http://www.catrpillr.com/
• http://freedomotic.com/
• http://majordomohome.com/
• http://www.nest.com/
• http://www.domotichome.net/
• http://en.opendomo.org/
• http://www.jubito.org/
• https://ifttt.com/

Maybe the community can enrich this list with experiences, oppinions, etc. I found it appropriate for this specific topic. Right?

Answer 2

So far all the arduino/home automations I have seen are custom built. We are planning on using Domotic Home in our hacker group.

Answer 3

Another open-source project: http://majordomohome.com/

Answer 4

Look up a video demo for the LinuxMCE project. (Be sure to watch the video, it's hard to really "get it" until you've seen it in action.)

Pretty impressive IMHO.

Answer 5

Did you have a look at FreeDomotic? You may be impressed by the flexibility and the polyvalence of the protocol and the core engine.

Answer 6

Another open source solution for you might be www.jubito.org.

Answer 7

I saw a interesting project. curuba is Open Source and Open Hardware. It uses WiFi network.

Also, you can use it in any platform. (Android, Apple, BlackBerry, etc.).