Home Assistant: free open-source smart home control
Home Assistant is free, open-source smart home software. Its FAQ says there is no subscription and no paywalled features. Hardware costs money unless you already have suitable hardware. The hosted Home Assistant Cloud subscription is optional.
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What it is
Home Assistant is free software that connects the smart devices in your home, such as lights and sensors, and lets you control them and set up automations in one place. Its homepage calls it "open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first". It is run by the Open Home Foundation, a non-profit, per its homepage and FAQ. It runs on your own hardware at home. It is not an AI tool, though the site mentions a voice assistant called Assist. We included it as a free tool for anyone who wants a smart home they control.
Is it free?
The software, yes. The FAQ asks "Is Home Assistant free?" and answers: "Yes. Home Assistant is free and open source. There is no subscription to use it, and no features are locked behind a paywall." It also lists what is paid, always optional: the hardware it runs on, the optional Home Assistant Cloud subscription for remote access and Apple Home, Google Home and Amazon Alexa links, and optional accessories. So you need a device to run it on, unless you already own suitable hardware. We did not check hardware prices. Nabu Casa's Link page currently displays a 31-day trial, a US$6.50 monthly offer and a US$65 annual plan, excluding tax. These are displayed hosted-service offers, not a verified Indian checkout total or a purchase made for this guide.
What you can do with it
- Bring your devices together. The homepage says it works with over 1000 brands and 1500+ integrations, and scans your network for known devices.
- Automate your home. The homepage describes an automation engine, for example turning on lights when something happens.
- Use voice. The homepage mentions Assist, a voice assistant it calls private and "insanely fast", running on affordable hardware.
- Use Alexa or Google Assistant. The homepage has pages on controlling Home Assistant with each. The FAQ says some of these link-ups use the optional paid Cloud service.
What to watch out for
- You need a device to run it on. The installation page lists Home Assistant Green (plug and play), a Raspberry Pi, an x86-64 machine, or a container or virtual machine. Most options list skills such as flashing an SD card or writing a boot image to a USB stick.
- Setup takes some effort. The Getting started guide says you do not need to write code or edit configuration files, and that the journey takes "most people about an afternoon". That is the project's estimate. We did not install it.
- Hosted Cloud is optional and paid. The Cloud page says Home Assistant works fully without it. Cloud is planned to be renamed Home Assistant Link on 2 December 2026, per the page.
- Check each device. Not every device is guaranteed to work, and we did not test any.
The current installation guide distinguishes Home Assistant OS from Home Assistant Container. OS is recommended for most people and includes apps; Container requires you to manage the host and updates and does not include apps or out-of-the-box Thread and Z-Wave support. Check the installation method before following an older guide.
Privacy and data
- The Getting started guide describes local control and data staying with you. That is not a promise that every integration or voice route is cloud-free. Local-protocol devices can work offline; devices that depend on a vendor cloud and hosted Cloud features still need the internet.
- The Analytics page says sharing usage information is optional and nothing is sent unless you opt in. You can turn it on during onboarding or later in Settings.
- The privacy policy covers the website and the Companion apps. It says the site is hosted by Netlify, served via Cloudflare with Cloudflare Analytics disabled, and that it uses Plausible for analytics. Home Assistant Cloud has a separate policy from Nabu Casa. The website policy also describes Netlify request logs retained for seven days, optional installation analytics retained up to 60 days after the last update, and optional crash diagnostics sent to Sentry. Nabu Casa's policy says its hosted speech-to-text and text-to-speech use Microsoft Azure Cognitive services. It says Nabu Casa does not proxy or access that audio/text, but the voice service still depends on Azure's privacy policy. Local Assist and hosted voice processing should not be treated as the same data route.
India
- We found no region limit on the pages we read. The software has no price. We did not check whether Home Assistant Green or the accessories ship to India, and we did not check hardware prices.
Frequently asked questions
Is Home Assistant free?
Yes, per its FAQ: no subscription and no features locked behind a paywall. Hardware, the optional Cloud subscription and accessories are paid and optional.
Do I need the internet?
Local-protocol devices and their automations can keep working. The FAQ says vendor-cloud-only devices, hosted Cloud features and updates still need the internet.
Do I need to code?
The Getting started guide says no.
Sources: Home Assistant, FAQ, Installation, Getting started, Cloud, Analytics, Privacy policy. Checked 17 October 2026. Hosted service offers · Nabu Casa privacy
Scoped recheck 24 October 2026: Official homepage, FAQ, installation, getting-started, Cloud, analytics and privacy pages, plus Nabu Casa Link and privacy pages, rechecked. Free software remains supported; clarified optional hosted Cloud pricing versus local software, OS versus Container and local versus vendor-cloud offline limits. Added website and optional analytics retention and Azure-hosted voice-processing boundaries. The Home Assistant Cloud page still plans a Link rename for 2 December 2026, while Nabu Casa already presents a Link page. Displayed USD offers exclude tax; Indian checkout, hardware delivery, devices and local voice remain untested. No installation, home-device connection, account, trial or payment.
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