← Back to home
Comparison · Infra & APIs

Headlamp vs OpenMQTTGateway

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Headlamp and OpenMQTTGateway — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Headlamp vs OpenMQTTGateway: at a glance

FeatureHeadlampOpenMQTTGateway
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeskubernetes, web-ui, plugin-ecosystem, helmiot gateway, bluetooth le, mqtt, home automation
Last editorial update2mo ago3h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Headlamp?

Headlamp's feed publishes Helm chart tags with no release notes, so direction has to be read from the plugin tool.

Headlamp is an extensible Kubernetes web UI, but its release feed is almost entirely Helm chart tags whose body is a single boilerplate sentence describing the project. headlamp-helm 0.43, 0.44, and 0.45 shipped across three months with no notes attached to any of them. The one substantive entry in the window is headlamp-plugin 0.14.0, the tooling release for plugin authors.

Read the full Headlamp trajectory →

What is OpenMQTTGateway?

OpenMQTTGateway returns after 22 months with a security-first 1.9.0.

OpenMQTTGateway shipped v1.9.0 on November 7, its first release since January 2025. It moves to the Arduino ESP32 core 3.x, ships Theengs Decoder 2.5.0 with a fix for a BLE advertisement parsing flaw affecting every earlier release, and hardens buffer handling across MQTT, HTTP, BLE and RF input. Upgrade notes warn that some Home Assistant unique_ids change and that encrypted BLE devices are skipped until a key is set.

Read the full OpenMQTTGateway trajectory →

Headlamp vs OpenMQTTGateway: editorial side-by-side

H
Headlamp
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Headlamp's feed publishes Helm chart tags with no release notes, so direction has to be read from the plugin tool.

◆ Current state

Headlamp is an extensible Kubernetes web UI, but its release feed is almost entirely Helm chart tags whose body is a single boilerplate sentence describing the project. headlamp-helm 0.43, 0.44, and 0.45 shipped across three months with no notes attached to any of them. The one substantive entry in the window is headlamp-plugin 0.14.0, the tooling release for plugin authors.

◆ Where it's heading

What can actually be read here is a plugin-ecosystem investment. The plugin scaffolder now writes an AGENTS.md file and bundles example plugins so AI coding agents have context when generating against the plugin API, and the same release replaced execSync with execFileSync to close a shell-injection path. Beyond that, the chart cadence says the project is maintained and shipping regularly, but the feed itself carries no evidence of what changed in the UI.

◆ Prediction

No reliable prediction can be drawn from a feed of note-less chart tags. The plugin toolchain is the only place the project is publishing intent, so the next readable signal will most likely come from another headlamp-plugin release rather than a chart bump.

O
OpenMQTTGateway
INFRA · APIS
2.5

OpenMQTTGateway returns after 22 months with a security-first 1.9.0.

◆ Current state

OpenMQTTGateway shipped v1.9.0 on November 7, its first release since January 2025. It moves to the Arduino ESP32 core 3.x, ships Theengs Decoder 2.5.0 with a fix for a BLE advertisement parsing flaw affecting every earlier release, and hardens buffer handling across MQTT, HTTP, BLE and RF input. Upgrade notes warn that some Home Assistant unique_ids change and that encrypted BLE devices are skipped until a key is set.

◆ Where it's heading

Earlier releases made the gateway independent of controllers and external brokers. The return release is about safety and a modern ESP32 base rather than new features, which suggests the project is resetting its foundation before resuming feature work.

◆ Prediction

Expect the promised security advisory for the Theengs Decoder flaw and 1.9.x fixes for the Home Assistant entity changes; whether regular cadence resumes is not yet clear from the entries.

Alternatives to Headlamp and OpenMQTTGateway

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Headlamp or OpenMQTTGateway.

See all Headlamp alternatives → · See all OpenMQTTGateway alternatives →

Recent activity from Headlamp and OpenMQTTGateway

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoOpenMQTTGatewayOpenMQTTGateway v1.9.0
  2. 2mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-helm-0.45.0
  3. 3mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-helm-0.44.0
  4. 4mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-helm-0.43.0
  5. 6mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-plugin 0.14.0
  6. 6mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-helm-0.42.0
  7. 7mo agoHeadlampheadlamp-helm-0.41.0
  8. 1y agoOpenMQTTGatewayAdaptive scanning restart bug fixed
  9. 1y agoOpenMQTTGatewayAn MQTT broker moves inside the gateway ⚡
  10. 2y agoOpenMQTTGatewayTheengs Bridge hardware and Ethernet onboarding
  11. 3y agoOpenMQTTGatewayWeb interface removes the controller dependency
  12. 3y agoOpenMQTTGatewayWorkaround for stuck BLE scans

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Headlamp and OpenMQTTGateway?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Headlamp is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Headlamp better than OpenMQTTGateway?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Headlamp is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Headlamp?

Top Headlamp alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Headlamp alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/headlamp for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to OpenMQTTGateway?

Top OpenMQTTGateway alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenMQTTGateway alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openmqttgateway for the full list with editorial commentary on each.