TL;DR
Get home appliances delivered free — and shop member deals
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Access to Prime Big Deal Days deals on October 6–7
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
Home Assistant is renaming Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link, a change founder Paulus Schoutsen describes as mostly symbolic. The optional subscription will retain its existing features, while the platform plans broader work to make setup and everyday use simpler.
Home Assistant is changing the name of its optional remote-access subscription from Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link, founder Paulus Schoutsen told The Verge ahead of the announcement. The service’s features will largely remain the same, but the name change reflects the platform’s emphasis on locally controlled smart homes and addresses confusion among users who thought Home Assistant itself ran in the cloud.
Schoutsen described the renaming as mostly symbolic. Link will continue to let subscribers reach their Home Assistant setup when they are away from home, and support internet-dependent options such as Alexa and Google voice control, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and encrypted backups. The report says the service costs $6.50 per month or $65 per year. Back-end changes are also planned to improve speed and reliability.
Home Assistant runs on local hardware and controls devices locally, but users normally cannot access their setup from outside their home network without a remote-access method. Link is optional: according to the report, users can reproduce its functions through other methods rather than subscribing. The service is operated by Nabu Casa, Home Assistant’s commercial partner, and its traffic is encrypted.
Schoutsen said Nabu Casa cannot access customers’ data through Link. He also said the service generates revenue for development, with 60 percent of profit going to the Open Home Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Home Assistant. Those privacy and funding descriptions come from Schoutsen and the organization; the report does not provide an independent technical audit of the service.
Local Control as a Selling Point
The announcement clarifies a distinction central to Home Assistant’s pitch: remote access can use internet infrastructure without making the smart home itself dependent on a company’s cloud to function. That matters to owners concerned that a connected product could lose features if its manufacturer closes servers, changes a service, or stops supporting a device.
Schoutsen criticized cloud-dependent products, citing cases including discontinued support for older Nest thermostats and the June Oven’s server shutdown. He argued that products should keep basic functions available locally and give users control over their data. These examples and his broader criticism are his stated rationale, rather than new findings announced with the rename.
The challenge is reaching people who want those protections without asking them to become smart-home technicians. Home Assistant is estimated by Schoutsen to be installed in 2.7 million homes, but he acknowledged that the platform remains smaller than major consumer ecosystems. Its open-ended choices can be powerful, yet can make setup and maintenance difficult for newcomers.
Home Assistant local control devices
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Cloud Label to User Access
The existing Home Assistant Cloud service has not been mandatory. Its remote-access and online features have been available to users who want them, while the platform’s central operation remains local. Schoutsen said the word “cloud” in the service name led some prospective users to assume that Home Assistant itself depended on cloud processing.
The organization’s wider strategy is to make the platform easier to adopt without removing its advanced capabilities. Schoutsen described that goal as “lower the floor without lowering the ceiling.” Planned work includes simpler dashboards, more intuitive setup, and generative AI intended to reduce complexity. The report also says a more user-friendly successor to the Home Assistant Green hub is planned for next year.
Another near-term change is the planned integration of the HACS community store into Home Assistant. HACS is where users find and install community-built integrations; bringing it into the platform is intended to make those additions easier to discover and set up. The report also describes a “No Device Left Behind” program in development, but provides limited detail about its scope.
““Big tech ruined the cloud, so we’re out.””
— Paulus Schoutsen, Home Assistant founder, speaking to The Verge
smart home voice assistants compatible with Home Assistant
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Details Still to Be Confirmed
The report does not give a precise date for when the renamed service will appear for all users, or specify the full scope and rollout schedule for its speed and reliability improvements. It also does not detail the price of Link beyond the reported existing subscription rates, or say whether those rates will change.
Several usability plans remain broad. The report says HACS integration is expected next month and a new hub is planned for next year, but it does not provide a launch date, final specifications, or pricing for that hub. Details of the “No Device Left Behind” program, including which devices it will support and when, are also not established in the supplied report.
Schoutsen’s statements about data access and encryption are attributable claims. The source material does not include an independent review of Link’s architecture or a technical description of what data the service processes to provide remote access.
encrypted backup smart home devices
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Upcoming Ease-of-Use Changes
The reported near-term milestone is integration of the HACS community store into Home Assistant, which the team says is planned for next month. The organization is also working on simpler dashboards and a more intuitive setup process. A more user-friendly hub is planned for next year, but its name, release date, and specifications have not been provided.
For users, the immediate change is the service name: the report says Link retains the role of providing remote access and optional online features. Home Assistant’s broader test will be whether its planned onboarding changes make a locally controlled platform easier to use without reducing its range of integrations and settings.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is Home Assistant Link?
Home Assistant Link is the new name for Home Assistant Cloud, an optional paid service for remote access to a Home Assistant setup and certain internet-dependent features.
Will the rename change the service’s features?
According to the report, the change is mostly symbolic. Existing features are expected to remain, with back-end improvements planned for speed and reliability.
Does Home Assistant require Link to work?
No. Home Assistant operates on local hardware, and the report says Link is optional. Users need a remote-access method to reach their setup from outside the home network, but they can use alternatives to the subscription.
How much does the service cost?
The report lists the current price as $6.50 per month or $65 per year. It does not say whether the name change will alter those rates.
What is Home Assistant changing to attract new users?
Plans described by founder Paulus Schoutsen include simpler dashboards, easier setup, integrating the HACS community store, and a more user-friendly hub planned for next year. Some dates and product details have not been announced.
Source: rss
Cold & flu season Picks
humidifiers
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
