Home Assistant Review

Thursday, July 10th

2025 Home Automation Company Reviews

Home Assistant

• Pricing from $99 to $135 per item
• Connectivity with 1,000+ devices
• App access to your entire home
• Tailored to your home
• DIY system
• Free source code

If you're looking for a home automation product that is completely DIY, Home Assistant is the most complete place to look. There's one caveat though: you ‘ll need to be pretty tech savvy to get it working. This open-source option feels more like a GitHub coding project than something designed for the average homeowner. But, there is the added benefit of having local control and privacy, driven by a global community of hobbyists and do-it-yourself enthusiasts, if you don't know what Jekyll or Raspberry Pi are (platforms for running and developing code), you might feel a bit out of your depth.

Learn to build your own tech

"Getting started” is a loose term with Home Assistant. The company does have impressive levels of tutorial information, but if you're not a confident techie with experience in building computers from scratch, even the helpful instructions and tutorial videos may not be enough. While Home Assistant offers "difficulty levels” for ways to install the home automation program, it requires that you have skills or materials already on hand.

Get started with Home Assistant Green

For example, the easiest way to set up Home Assistant is the Home Assistant Green. This comes with the software pre-installed, but you have to have an ethernet connection available and pay for the "Green” level module. On the harder end, you have to DIY the entire process by getting Raspberry Pi, a mini low-cost computer, and downloading the Home Assistant program to the computer. The site notes that this will help you learn how to DIY if that's what you're looking for.

An option for beginners and one for techs

There are three actual products you can buy at Home Assistant; otherwise, you're left to your own devices to get the materials you need and work with the program yourself. Home Assistant Green is a pretty easy plug-and-go process as long as you have an ethernet connection and can follow the tutorial video. However, the other products require a bit of work. You can buy a Raspberry Pi computer chip which requires you to be able to install Home Assistant onto the computer chip, plus you'll still need an ethernet cable and an SD card (not sold with the chip). Finally, you can buy Home Assistant Yellow, which works in tandem with the Raspberry Pi chip. Yellow comes with the components you need to DIY your Home Assistant, but you'll still have to buy the Raspberry Pi chip too to make it all run. You'll need to be able to install a computer module yourself (and a heat sink).

Basic kit: Home Assistant Green

Green is the easiest way to get the Home Assistant program working for your house. This option costs $99 according to the Home Assistant website. However, when you hit "Buy Now”, the site redirects you to a retailer that offers the product you need. Home Assistant doesn't sell any of its own products. While $99 was an accurate estimate for most of the retailers, it was a little odd to be redirected to make a purchase, and not all of the third-party sites felt modern or trustworthy.

Top tier kit: Home Assistant Yellow (With Raspberry Pi)

Yellow (and the Raspberry Pi chip) are a combo, but you have to buy each item separately to use them properly. In both cases, you are also redirected away from Home Assistant to purchase the items you need. The chip comes in around $60 depending on where you buy. The Home Assistant Yellow module costs between $124 to $135 depending on which retailer you choose.

Buy your smart devices separately

Notably, none of these packages come with any smart home devices. Home Assistant collaborates with over 1,000 brands, but you have to buy all of your smart home devices separately, making this project even more work. However, once activated, Home Assistant automatically scans your network for recognized devices, simplifying the setup process. The program comes with dedicated Home Assistant apps, serving as a handy companion for quick device control and timely notifications about activities in your home - accessible even on your wrist with the Apple Watch.

No refund policy or customer support

There are no refunds or guarantees from Home Assistant itself. Since you're buying everything from third-party websites, returns or guarantees will be determined by the actual seller. Further, Home Assistant's website actually says that there's no support on the "contact” link, which is a huge downside especially if you're not well-versed in tech.

Not a lot of customer reviews

Outside of some Reddit forums, there isn't a lot of buzz for Home Assistant. The company doesn't have any presence on the Better Business Bureau as the code Home Assistant offers is open source. There are exactly 3 reviews on Trustpilot, which doesn't instill a lot of confidence, but the reviews are all 5 stars. So, those who felt confident enough to use the Home Assistant program found that it was an effective home automation tool.

Best for those with computer expertise

While the concept of a free program to upgrade your home automation system is a unique idea, it just doesn't work for most homeowners. Home Assistant Green may be a good option if you're not a tech-savvy homeowner, but there are better and more robust home automation retailers out there. Home Assistant assumes that you already have smart home devices and a network set up, so if you're looking for a place to give you a full package from the ground up, this won't be the place for you. But if you're a DIYer or you love working with computers, this might be a fun side project that could keep costs down.