Home Assistant is free, 🏷️#open-source home-automation software that runs locally to monitor and control smart-home devices from thousands of brands through a single, privacy-focused interface.
First released in 2013 by Paulus Schoutsen and written in Python, Home Assistant runs on hardware as modest as a 📝Raspberry Pi and emphasizes local control: devices are managed on the home network rather than through a manufacturer's cloud, so automations keep working without internet access and usage data stays in the home. It integrates with thousands of devices and services and speaks the major smart-home protocols, including 📝Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and Z-Wave.
The project is stewarded by the nonprofit Open Home Foundation, formed in 2024 to hold Home Assistant and more than 240 related open-source projects, and funded largely through Nabu Casa—the company Schoutsen founded in 2018 to sell a cloud-connectivity and remote-access subscription while employing core developers. Now automating more than a million homes, it has become the leading open alternative to the closed ecosystems of the 📝Internet of Things (IoT), valued for its breadth of integrations, active community, and stance on privacy, choice, and sustainability.
Home Assistant runs the brains of my home management hub—a wall-mounted touchscreen that controls the lights, music, and devices across the house.