There are a lot of "best hub" articles out there filled with affiliate links and lukewarm opinions. This is not one of those. We have tested, configured, and lived with these hubs. Here is what actually matters when picking the brain of your smart home.
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If you want our honest recommendation without reading 3,000 words: Home Assistant running on a Home Assistant Green box is the best smart home hub for most people in 2026. It costs around $100, works locally without cloud dependency, supports over 2,000 integrations, and gives you complete control over your data. The learning curve is real, but it is shorter than it used to be.
That said, "best" depends on you. Here is a cheat sheet:
Our Top Pick
Most powerful, most flexible, local-first. 2,000+ integrations. Runs on dedicated hardware ($50 to $150) or your own server. Perfect for tinkerers and privacy-conscious users.
Best for: Power users, privacy, long-term investment
Starting cost: ~$100 (HA Green)
Easiest setup, solid Zigbee/Z-Wave/Matter support, good app. Cloud-dependent. Samsung could change things at any time (they have before). Good entry point if you do not want to tinker.
Best for: Beginners, Samsung households
Starting cost: ~$70 (Station hub)
Polished, private, works great within the Apple ecosystem. Limited device selection compared to other hubs. No Zigbee or Z-Wave, Matter and HomeKit only. If your whole house is Apple, it just works.
Best for: Apple-only households
Starting cost: ~$100 (HomePod Mini)
Before diving into specific hubs, let's talk about what separates a good hub from a frustrating one. These are the criteria we use:
Does your hub work when the internet goes down? Cloud-dependent hubs stop working if the company's servers go offline. Local hubs keep running no matter what.
Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Thread, Matter. The more protocols your hub supports, the more devices you can use. Avoid hubs that only speak one language.
Simple "if this then that" rules are table stakes. The best hubs let you create complex automations with conditions, variables, and multi-step sequences.
Will this hub exist in 5 years? Open-source platforms like Home Assistant can not be discontinued. Cloud platforms can be shut down overnight (RIP Wink, Insteon cloud, Google Nest Secure).
Who sees your data? Cloud hubs send your usage patterns to company servers. Local hubs keep everything in your house. Your smart home knows when you sleep, wake up, and leave. That data should stay yours.
When something breaks at 10pm, you need help. A large community means more tutorials, add-ons, and people who have solved your exact problem.
Home Assistant is open-source software that turns almost any small computer into a smart home hub. It has the largest integration library of any platform (over 2,000 official integrations), runs entirely locally, and has a massive community building add-ons, custom cards, and automations.
Home Assistant Green
~$100. Plug and play. Best starting point for most people. Built-in Ethernet, low power consumption.
Home Assistant Yellow
~$150+. Built-in Zigbee/Thread radio. For enthusiasts who want everything in one box. Requires a Raspberry Pi CM4.
Intel N100 Mini PC
~$120 to $180. Way more powerful. Run Home Assistant in Docker alongside other services. Our pick for advanced users.
Raspberry Pi 4/5
~$80 to $120 total. Works well, but SD card reliability can be an issue. Use an SSD for stability.
Want to get started? Check our complete installation guide or see what gear you need in our starter kit breakdown.
SmartThings has been around since 2014 and went through a major overhaul when Samsung rebuilt it on a new platform. The current version is solid, with good Matter support, a clean app, and native Zigbee/Z-Wave on the Station hub.
Fair warning: SmartThings has migrated platforms multiple times, each time breaking existing setups. If you choose SmartThings, know that your setup is at Samsung's mercy. If you want to future-proof, consider migrating to Home Assistant later.
Hubitat sits between SmartThings and Home Assistant. It runs locally (your automations keep working without internet), supports Zigbee and Z-Wave out of the box, and does not require the same technical knowledge as Home Assistant. Think of it as "SmartThings but local."
Hubitat is a solid pick if you want local control but find Home Assistant intimidating. Many Hubitat users eventually move to Home Assistant once they outgrow it. Read our Home Assistant vs Hubitat comparison for a deeper look.
Apple Home (formerly HomeKit) is the obvious choice if your household runs on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The interface is beautiful, Siri integration works well, and Apple takes privacy seriously. But the device selection is smaller than any other platform, and you can not use Zigbee or Z-Wave devices directly.
You can actually use Apple Home alongside Home Assistant using the HomeKit Bridge integration. This gives you the nice Apple interface while Home Assistant handles the heavy lifting and device compatibility. Best of both worlds. See our HomeKit migration guide for details.
Let's be clear about something: Alexa is primarily a voice assistant that happens to control smart devices. It is not really a hub in the traditional sense. Amazon Echo devices can control Zigbee devices (with the Echo Plus or Echo Show 10), and Alexa has a huge compatible device list, but the automation engine is basic and everything depends on Amazon's cloud.
Our recommendation: use Alexa as a voice interface on top of a real hub. Home Assistant integrates with Alexa, so you get voice control plus proper automations. See our Alexa to Home Assistant guide for a step-by-step plan.
We have to be blunt here: Google is sunsetting Google Assistant on smart home devices in March 2026. If you are reading this and considering Google Home as your hub, you are walking into a platform that is actively being wound down. Google's track record of killing products is legendary, and smart home is not immune.
⚠️ Google Assistant dies March 2026. Existing Nest speakers and displays will lose many features. Google is transitioning to Gemini, but Gemini does not support the same smart home commands. If you are already on Google Home, now is the time to plan your exit. Read our Google Home shutdown guide or start your migration to Home Assistant.
Here is how they all stack up on the things that matter most:
| Feature | Home Assistant | SmartThings | Hubitat | Apple Home | Alexa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Control | ✅ Full | ❌ Cloud | ✅ Full | ✅ Mostly | ❌ Cloud |
| Integrations | 2,000+ | 300+ | 200+ | 100+ | 100k+ skills |
| Zigbee | ✅ (dongle) | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Built-in | ❌ | ⚠️ Some Echos |
| Z-Wave | ✅ (dongle) | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Built-in | ❌ | ❌ |
| Matter/Thread | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Automation Power | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Ease of Setup | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Privacy | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ |
| Starting Price | ~$100 | ~$70 | ~$175 | ~$100 | ~$25 |
Still not sure? Here is how we would narrow it down based on your situation:
Home Assistant on a Green box or mini PC. Add a Zigbee dongle and you are set. You will spend a weekend getting it configured, but once it is running, nothing else comes close.
SmartThings Station. Plug it in, download the app, add devices. Simple. Just know you are dependent on Samsung's cloud and their decisions about the platform's future.
Home Assistant (fully local) or Apple Home (mostly local). Both keep your data in your house. If you are all-Apple, start with HomeKit and add Home Assistant later if you need more power.
Keep your voice assistants as the voice layer, but add Home Assistant as the automation brain behind them. This gives you proper automations while keeping the voice control you are used to.
An old laptop or Raspberry Pi running Home Assistant. Free software, and you probably have the hardware already. Add a $20 Zigbee dongle and start with smart plugs and smart bulbs.
You are not alone. Google Assistant's shutdown is pushing millions of users to find alternatives. Our migration guide walks you through the whole process, device by device.
Matter is the new smart home standard backed by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung. The promise: buy any Matter device and it works with any Matter hub. The reality in 2026: it is getting there, but it is not complete yet.
Matter is great for new purchases, but it does not replace the need for a hub. You still need something to run automations, display dashboards, and coordinate your devices. Think of Matter as a common language your devices speak, and the hub as the brain that makes them work together.
Every hub on this list now supports Matter. Home Assistant's implementation is particularly strong because it can act as both a Matter controller (controlling Matter devices) and a Matter bridge (exposing your non-Matter devices to other Matter platforms like Apple Home).
Our free smart home scan checks which of your existing devices are compatible with Home Assistant. Find out what carries over and what you might need to replace before you commit to any hub.
Run the Free ScanIf you have more than a few smart devices, yes. A hub lets your devices talk to each other, run automations across brands, and gives you a single app to control everything. Without a hub, each brand needs its own app and your devices can not work together. Matter is changing this somewhat, but a hub still gives you the most flexibility and automation power.
A bridge connects one brand or protocol to your network. For example, a Philips Hue Bridge only handles Hue lights. A hub connects multiple brands and protocols, runs automations, and acts as the brain of your smart home. Think of a bridge as a translator for one language, and a hub as a translator for dozens.
Home Assistant is more powerful, more private, and works locally without internet. SmartThings is easier to set up and more beginner-friendly. If you want maximum control and do not mind a learning curve, Home Assistant wins. If you want something simple that just works out of the box, SmartThings is a fair choice, but you depend on Samsung's cloud servers.
Yes, and many people do. You might use Home Assistant as your main hub while keeping a Hue Bridge for lights and an Aqara Hub for Zigbee sensors. Home Assistant can integrate with most other hubs and bridges, pulling everything into one dashboard. Matter is also making multi-hub setups easier with its multi-admin feature.
If your hub is cloud-dependent (SmartThings, Alexa), it stops working if the company shuts down or discontinues the service. This has already happened with Wink, Insteon's cloud, and is happening now with Google Assistant. Open-source hubs like Home Assistant can not be discontinued because the community owns the code. Your devices and automations keep working no matter what.