SMART HOME CONTROL
What is Home Assistant?
Home Assistant is open-source home automation software that runs on hardware in your home. It can bring devices from different brands into one place and lets you build automations that continue working locally when the internet is unavailable.
What can it control?
Home Assistant supports a large ecosystem of integrations covering lights, plugs, heating, sensors, media devices, energy monitoring and many other smart-home products. What works locally depends on the individual device and integration.
Do you need a Raspberry Pi?
No. Home Assistant currently recommends Home Assistant Green as the easiest plug-and-play route for most people. You can also install Home Assistant OS on a Raspberry Pi, an x86-64 mini PC or another supported device, or run Home Assistant in a virtual machine or container.
Home Assistant OS vs Container
Home Assistant OS is the recommended installation type for most users because it includes the Supervisor and supports apps. Home Assistant Container gives you more control over the host operating system but expects you to manage Docker and the surrounding system yourself.
Does everything stay local?
Home Assistant itself can run locally, but individual integrations may still depend on manufacturer cloud services. Check each device rather than assuming that adding it to Home Assistant makes it fully local.
Start with one useful automation
Connecting twenty devices is less useful than building one automation you genuinely rely on. Start small, learn how backups and recovery work, then expand.
Go deeper
- What hardware does Home Assistant need?
- Home Assistant vs Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home
- How to build a Home Assistant smart home server
Next: what hardware should you use? or build a smart home server step by step.