I installed my own MQTT broker on a MacBook, Mosquitto, and got it to work without major issues.
MQTT is really great for IoT, of course if you have a broker running or want to go through a public broker, otherwise my ad-hoc messaging solution I think it is a bit easier for home projects. But again, MQTT is the way to go if you want to control several devices, send and receive various commands, etc.
On my future boards I will offer ad-hoc messaging or MQTT check http://www.horaciobouzas.com