# HeyWillow/willow

Open source, local, and self-hosted Amazon Echo/Google Home competitive Voice Assistant alternative

Repository: https://github.com/HeyWillow/willow
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/willow
Homepage: https://heywillow.org/
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: alexa, deep-learning, echo, esp-adf, esp-idf, esp32, home-assistant, home-automation, speech-recognition, speech-to-text, whisper, google-home, privacy
Last push: 2026-08-04T17:02:58+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 70, longevity 89
- inputs: {"age_days": 1251, "days_push": 29, "days_rel": 43, "gap_med": 159, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3097, forks 128 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:43.426681+00:00)

## What it is
Willow is an open source, self-hosted voice assistant platform for ESP32-S3-BOX hardware, designed as a privacy-focused alternative to Amazon Echo and Google Home. It combines on-device wake word and optional local command recognition with a companion Willow Inference Server for fast STT, TTS, and LLM inference, integrating primarily with Home Assistant.

## Use cases
- build a self-hosted voice assistant to replace Alexa or Google Home
- control Home Assistant devices with voice commands
- run speech-to-text and wake word detection locally for privacy
- flash a voice assistant onto an ESP32-S3-BOX
- create an offline voice command system for smart home automation
- self-host STT, TTS, and LLM inference for voice applications

## When to choose
- you want a privacy-focused, fully open source voice assistant with no cloud dependency
- you use Home Assistant or openHAB and want fast voice control
- you want Echo/Google Home-like performance on ~$50 commercial hardware
- you need sub-500ms voice command response times

## When to avoid
- you need a plug-and-play consumer product without flashing firmware
- your smart home relies on platforms other than Home Assistant or openHAB
- you need more than ~400 local voice commands without an inference server
- you can't provide a stable 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi environment

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: speech-recognition, tts, llm-inference, embedded, iot, self-hosted
- domain: speech-processing, iot, privacy, self-hosted, embedded-systems
- platform: embedded, iot, self-hosted
- tags: voice-assistant, esp32-s3-box, wake-word, home-assistant, smart-home, whisper, esp-idf, alexa-alternative, voice-satellite, automation, linux

## Member repositories
- HeyWillow/willow (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:43.426681+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:46:22.643127+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/HeyWillow/willow (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:43.426681+00:00, sha 27f391e7df9a)
  - homepage: https://heywillow.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:42:26.074208+00:00, sha 54c83a3544ad)
  - site_page: https://heywillow.org/features/Wi-Fi (fetched 2026-08-29T09:42:26.080215+00:00, sha 29edacf6acb8)
  - site_page: https://heywillow.org/features/Home-Assistant (fetched 2026-08-29T09:42:26.076649+00:00, sha ecb9c5c9fce4)
  - site_page: https://heywillow.org/features/Local-Command-Support (fetched 2026-08-29T09:42:26.078532+00:00, sha bfb0ffe5b822)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.