Home Assistant Says ‘Big Tech Ruined The Cloud, So We’re Out’

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Home Assistant is renaming Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link, a change founder Paulus Schoutsen describes as mostly symbolic. The paid service will continue to provide remote access and other internet-dependent features, while Home Assistant itself runs locally. The team is also working to make the platform easier to set up and use.

Home Assistant is renaming its optional Home Assistant Cloud service to Home Assistant Link, founder Paulus Schoutsen told The Verge ahead of the announcement. The change is mainly a rebrand: remote access and other existing features will remain, while the new name is intended to make clearer that the smart-home platform runs locally rather than in the cloud.

Schoutsen said the service’s core features will not change, although Home Assistant is making back-end improvements to speed and reliability. Link lets subscribers reach their Home Assistant setup from outside their home network. It also supports internet-dependent options such as Alexa and Google voice control, speech-to-text, text-to-speech and encrypted backups.

The service costs $6.50 a month or $65 a year. It is optional: users can access equivalent functions through other methods, according to the report. Home Assistant’s core system runs on local hardware and controls devices locally, but remote control is unavailable when a user is away from the home network unless a remote-access method is set up.

Link is operated by Nabu Casa, Home Assistant’s commercial partner. Schoutsen told The Verge that traffic is encrypted and the service cannot see users’ data. He said 60 percent of its profit goes to the Open Home Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Home Assistant, helping fund platform development.

A Paid Link, Not a Cloud-Run Home

The rename addresses a mismatch between Home Assistant’s local-control message and a paid service whose old name suggested the entire platform depended on cloud computing. It also draws a distinction that matters to smart-home owners: using an internet service for remote access or backups is not the same as relying on a company’s servers for basic device functions.

That distinction has practical consequences. If a provider shuts down a cloud service, products that depend on it may lose functionality. Schoutsen argues that devices should keep working locally and that users should control their own data. Those are his stated principles, not a guarantee that every device connected to Home Assistant is independent of cloud services.

The service also gives the project a revenue stream, with a share of profits directed to the foundation. At the same time, Home Assistant is trying to reach beyond experienced hobbyists. The report puts its installations at an estimated 2.7 million homes, still a fraction of the reach of major smart-home platforms, according to Schoutsen.

Why Home Assistant Is Rebranding

Home Assistant is an open-source smart-home platform that can run on local hardware and connect devices from different manufacturers. Schoutsen told The Verge that many people find it after running into limits with mainstream systems such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple Home. Its flexibility, however, can bring a steep learning curve.

The team’s broader plans focus on lowering that barrier without removing advanced options. Schoutsen described the goal as “lower the floor without lowering the ceiling.” The report says the team is working on simpler dashboards and more intuitive setup, and plans a more user-friendly hub next year as a successor to Home Assistant Green.

Another planned change is to integrate the HACS community store, where users find and install community-built integrations, into Home Assistant. The report says that work is due the following month. Schoutsen also discussed using generative AI to reduce complexity and a “No Device Left Behind” effort to connect older or analog equipment. The source material does not provide full specifications or release dates for those efforts.

“Big tech ruined the cloud, so we’re out.”

— Paulus Schoutsen, Home Assistant founder, speaking to The Verge

What the Rename Does Not Resolve

The announcement does not specify when the new name will appear across all apps, account pages or subscription materials. The source says the service’s features remain largely the same but does not detail the back-end changes or quantify expected speed and reliability improvements.

It is also unclear when the proposed hub will launch, what it will cost, or which devices will be included in the “No Device Left Behind” work. The reported 2.7 million figure is Schoutsen’s estimate of Home Assistant installations, and the source does not give a measurement method or date range. Claims about Link’s access to user data and encryption are attributed to Schoutsen; the report does not provide an independent technical audit.

Upcoming Usability and Hub Work

Home Assistant’s next stated usability milestone is integrating HACS into the platform, which the report said was planned for the following month. The team also expects to release a more user-friendly hub next year, though no exact launch date or specifications were given.

Further development areas include simpler dashboards, easier setup, possible uses of generative AI and support for bringing legacy equipment into the system. The Link rename itself does not require users to switch platforms, and the report describes no immediate loss of service or feature changes. More details on timing and product support remain to be announced.

Key Questions

What is Home Assistant Link?

Home Assistant Link is the new name for Home Assistant Cloud, an optional paid service that provides remote access to a Home Assistant setup and supports features such as voice control and encrypted backups.

Does Home Assistant now run in the cloud?

No. The report says Home Assistant runs on local hardware and controls the smart home locally. Link provides a way to reach an installation from outside the home network and enables some internet-dependent features.

How much does Home Assistant Link cost?

The reported price is $6.50 per month or $65 per year. The service is optional, according to the report.

Will users lose features because of the rename?

The report says the service’s features will stay the same, apart from planned back-end improvements to speed and reliability. It does not describe a feature removal or require users to move to a different platform.

What changes is Home Assistant planning for new users?

The team is working on easier setup and dashboards, plans to integrate the HACS community store, and expects a more user-friendly hub next year. Exact dates and product details have not been provided in the source material.

Source: rss