You've decided Home Assistant is the way to go. Now you're staring at dozens of hardware options, three different protocols, and conflicting Reddit advice. Here's what you actually need to get started, nothing more.
Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant Green, Home Assistant Yellow, old laptop, NUC, Docker on a NAS. Every forum post recommends something different, and nobody explains which one is actually right for you.
Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, Matter, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. Each has trade-offs, and picking the wrong one means buying a coordinator you don't need or devices that won't talk to each other.
Nobody wants to drop $200 on hardware only to realize they bought the wrong hub or picked a protocol that doesn't support their existing devices. The stakes feel higher than they actually are.
You've been "researching" for weeks. Reading Reddit threads, watching YouTube comparisons, bookmarking guides. Meanwhile, your smart home is exactly where it was a month ago: nowhere.
You don't need to spend a fortune to start with Home Assistant. Here's the minimum viable setup that gets you a working smart home this weekend.
This is the easiest way to start. Plug it into your router, power it on, and Home Assistant is running in five minutes. No Linux knowledge required, no SD cards to flash, no Docker to configure. It just works.
The Home Assistant SkyConnect USB stick adds Zigbee and Thread support. Plug it into your Green, and you can connect hundreds of Zigbee devices without any cloud dependency. One stick, two protocols.
Start small. One Zigbee smart bulb or a motion sensor. Get it paired, create your first automation ("turn on light when motion detected"), and feel the magic. You can always add more devices later.
A Zigbee smart plug lets you control any dumb appliance and track its power usage. Plug in your coffee maker and set it to turn on when your morning alarm goes off. Instant smart home moment.
~$99. Plug and play. Pre-installed with Home Assistant OS. Enough power for most homes (up to ~50 devices comfortably). Add a SkyConnect stick for Zigbee/Thread.
Best for: beginners, small to medium homes, people who want zero setup friction.
~$150+. Built-in Zigbee coordinator and optional PoE. Uses a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 inside. More expandable, but requires a CM4 (often sold separately).
Best for: enthusiasts who want built-in Zigbee and plan to grow their setup significantly.
~$60-80 (board only). Flash an SD card or SSD with Home Assistant OS. Flexible and cheap, but requires more hands-on setup. SD cards can corrupt over time.
Best for: tinkerers who already own a Pi or want the cheapest possible entry point.
Free (if you have one) to ~$150. Install Home Assistant OS on bare metal or run it in Docker/VM. Way more powerful than you need, but great if you want to run other services too.
Best for: power users, homelabbers, people who want Plex + Home Assistant + Pi-hole on one box.
You don't need all three. Most people should start with Zigbee. Here's why.
Here's a realistic timeline for going from zero to working smart home. No prior experience needed.
Plug in Home Assistant Green, connect ethernet, open the web UI. Create your account and let it discover devices already on your network (Chromecast, printers, smart TVs).
Plug in your SkyConnect stick, set up ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT. Pair your first bulb, motion sensor, or smart plug. Watch it appear in your dashboard instantly.
Create your first automation: "When motion is detected in the hallway after sunset, turn on the light for 5 minutes." Simple, useful, and it works locally with zero cloud dependency.
Build a nice dashboard, add more devices, try the energy monitoring. This is where the tinkering begins, and where Home Assistant really shines.
Don't buy 30 devices on day one. Start with these and expand as you learn what works for your home.
Aqara WSDCGQ11LM (~$12). Track temperature in every room. Use it to trigger heating automations or just check if the baby's room is comfortable.
Protocol: Zigbee | Battery: ~2 yearsIKEA TRADFRI motion sensor (~$10) or Aqara P1 (~$18). The foundation of "lights that turn on when you walk in." Once you have this, you'll want one in every room.
Protocol: Zigbee | Battery: 1-2 yearsIKEA TRADFRI bulb (~$8) or a Zigbee-compatible bulb. Cheap, reliable, and satisfying. Pair it with the motion sensor for your first real automation.
Protocol: Zigbee | Acts as mesh repeaterSonoff S31 Lite Zigbee (~$12). Control any appliance remotely and track power consumption. Great for coffee makers, space heaters, or finding phantom loads.
Protocol: Zigbee | Also repeats the meshAqara Door Sensor (~$10). Know when doors or windows open. Use it for security alerts, or to automatically turn off the AC when someone opens a window.
Protocol: Zigbee | Battery: ~2 yearsIKEA TRADFRI remote (~$7) or Aqara Mini Switch (~$12). Physical buttons you can program to do anything. "Press once for movie mode, double-press for all lights off."
Protocol: Zigbee | Battery: 1-2 yearsIf you're coming from Google Home, Alexa, or SmartThings, you probably already own compatible devices. Most Zigbee and Z-Wave devices work with Home Assistant out of the box. Wi-Fi devices vary, but many are supported too.
Run our free scan to see which of your current devices will carry over, and which ones might need replacing.
No. Home Assistant has a visual automation editor, a point-and-click dashboard builder, and thousands of integrations that install with one click. You can get very far without touching a single line of YAML. That said, if you do want to get into YAML, it opens up even more possibilities.
A Home Assistant Green ($99) plus a SkyConnect stick ($30) plus a couple of Zigbee devices ($20-40) puts you at roughly $150-170. If you use a Raspberry Pi you already own, you can start for under $50 in new devices. There are no subscriptions or monthly fees.
Yes. Home Assistant integrates with both Alexa and Google Assistant for voice commands. You can also use it with Apple Siri via the HomeKit Bridge. Your voice assistant becomes the frontend, Home Assistant becomes the brain.
Good news: most of them work with Home Assistant. Philips Hue, IKEA TRADFRI, Shelly, Sonoff, Tuya, and hundreds more are natively supported. You can often ditch the manufacturer's hub entirely and connect devices directly through your Zigbee coordinator.
Absolutely. Home Assistant runs locally, so it works even when your internet goes down. Zigbee and Z-Wave automations respond in milliseconds. Millions of people use it as their primary smart home platform. It's not beta software anymore.
Stop researching, start building. Check which of your current devices work with Home Assistant, and get a personalized migration plan.
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