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NSD vs Z-Wave JS UI

A side-by-side editorial comparison of NSD and Z-Wave JS UI — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

NSD vs Z-Wave JS UI: at a glance

FeatureNSDZ-Wave JS UI
SectorDevOpsDevOps
Velocity score5.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesdns, security, open-source, catalog-zonessmart home, z-wave, home assistant, self-hosted
Last editorial update7d ago11h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is NSD?

NSD's 4.15 line is being shaped by outside researchers' bug reports.

NLnet Labs shipped two NSD releases in October. 4.15.3 fixed four CVEs in the simdzone zone-file parser that only crafted zone files can trigger, a risk mainly for multi-tenant setups where third parties feed zone data. 4.15.4 adds a report-channel EDNS option, a catalog-group-pattern setting that limits which patterns catalog member zones may use, and the UNECE and ISO record types, alongside a long list of fixes credited to researchers at Palo Alto Networks and Tsinghua University.

Read the full NSD trajectory →

What is Z-Wave JS UI?

Z-Wave JS UI 11.26 picks up zwave-js 15.32 and finishes the move to Node 24.

Z-Wave JS UI mostly tracks the zwave-js driver. 11.26.0 bumps zwave-js to 15.32.1 and moves the TypeScript base config to Node 24, completing the move that started with the Node 24 Docker image in 11.25.0. 11.25.2 had fixed self-signed certificates Node 24 rejected.

Read the full Z-Wave JS UI trajectory →

NSD vs Z-Wave JS UI: editorial side-by-side

N
NSD
DEVOPS
5.0

NSD's 4.15 line is being shaped by outside researchers' bug reports.

◆ Current state

NLnet Labs shipped two NSD releases in October. 4.15.3 fixed four CVEs in the simdzone zone-file parser that only crafted zone files can trigger, a risk mainly for multi-tenant setups where third parties feed zone data. 4.15.4 adds a report-channel EDNS option, a catalog-group-pattern setting that limits which patterns catalog member zones may use, and the UNECE and ISO record types, alongside a long list of fixes credited to researchers at Palo Alto Networks and Tsinghua University.

◆ Where it's heading

Most of the 4.15 cycle is reactive: four security or bug-fix releases since August, with outside researchers finding parser overflows, crashes on malformed catalog zones and IXFR edge cases. Features still arrive, and at least one, catalog-group-pattern, was suggested by a researcher who also reported bugs. Catalog zones and zone-file parsing are where the attention is concentrated.

◆ Prediction

Expect more fixes in catalog zone and zone-file parsing as outside fuzzing continues, likely in another 4.15 patch. The entries give no sign of a 4.16 feature release.

Z5.0

Z-Wave JS UI 11.26 picks up zwave-js 15.32 and finishes the move to Node 24.

◆ Current state

Z-Wave JS UI mostly tracks the zwave-js driver. 11.26.0 bumps zwave-js to 15.32.1 and moves the TypeScript base config to Node 24, completing the move that started with the Node 24 Docker image in 11.25.0. 11.25.2 had fixed self-signed certificates Node 24 rejected.

◆ Where it's heading

Releases follow upstream zwave-js versions, with occasional UI feature releases like 11.25.0 in between. Device support changes arrive through the driver rather than the UI.

◆ Prediction

Expect further zwave-js patch bumps; a UI-level feature release is less predictable from this feed.

Alternatives to NSD and Z-Wave JS UI

Other DevOps 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 NSD or Z-Wave JS UI.

See all NSD alternatives → · See all Z-Wave JS UI alternatives →

Recent activity from NSD and Z-Wave JS UI

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

  1. 14h agoZ-Wave JS UIZ-Wave JS UI 11.26.0 moves to zwave-js 15.32.1
  2. 14d agoZ-Wave JS UI11.25.2: regenerates self-signed certs Node 24 rejected
  3. 17d agoZ-Wave JS UI11.25.1: zwave-js 15.31.2 and Node 24.22.1
  4. 19d agoZ-Wave JS UI11.25.0: config entity defaults, better filters, Node 24 image
  5. 19d agoNSDNSD 4.15.4 released
  6. 26d agoNSDNSD 4.15.4rc1 pre-release
  7. 26d agoNSDNSD 4.15.3 security release
  8. 1mo agoZ-Wave JS UIZ-Wave JS UI 11.24.3 bumps zwave-js to 15.31.1
  9. 1mo agoZ-Wave JS UIZ-Wave JS UI 11.24.2 pulls in zwave-js 15.31 and server 3.11
  10. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.2 released
  11. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.2 release candidate
  12. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.1 security release: four CVEs fixed

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between NSD and Z-Wave JS UI?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. NSD and Z-Wave JS UI are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is NSD better than Z-Wave JS UI?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. NSD and Z-Wave JS UI are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other DevOps products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to NSD?

Top NSD alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "NSD alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nsd for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Z-Wave JS UI?

Top Z-Wave JS UI alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Z-Wave JS UI alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/zwave-js-ui for the full list with editorial commentary on each.