Home Pro and Aqara Devices

[HenriDo]

For those who may be interested, here is some useful information about Homey .

Homey Pro is not an open-source platform like Home Assistant. Its business model is based on selling hardware products such as Homey Pro, Homey Pro Mini, and other Homey devices. There is no mandatory subscription, except for optional cloud services such as backups.

The cost of the hardware is an important factor to consider. Homey devices are positioned at a higher price point, starting at around €250 for Homey Pro Mini and reaching approximately €399 for Homey Pro. This makes Homey more expensive than alternatives such as Home Assistant Green (around €110) or the Aqara Hub M3 (around €110). This difference reflects a different product philosophy: Homey focuses on an all-in-one, multi-protocol, turnkey solution with a unified interface and no mandatory subscription.

Homey can be used in several ways, including a cloud-only version that does not require local hardware but very limited. This allows users to choose between a fully local setup, a cloud-based setup, or a hybrid approach, depending on their needs.

Homey was originally founded in Europe and was acquired by LG (South Korea) about a year ago. Despite this acquisition, the company remains based in Europe and continues to emphasize data privacy and local processing.

Regarding the topic of this forum, Homey offers strong integration with Aqara devices. In the Homey ecosystem, device support is provided through “apps,” which enable compatibility with multiple protocols such as Zigbee, Matter, Z-Wave, and 433 MHz.

These apps can be developed by the Homey team, by the community, or directly by device manufacturers. Official apps published by manufacturers generally provide the best level of integration and long-term support.

Aqara is one of the brands that offers an official Homey app. As a result, Aqara devices benefit from deep integration and a wide range of supported features within Homey. I am confident in using Aqara devices together with Homey as a reliable smart home solution.

Link to the Aqara App in Homey: Aqara | Homey

In Homey, you can directly integrate the Aqara Device (Zigbee and Matter) or, like me, use an Aqara M3 Hub that exposes all Aqara devices as Matter.

the list of supported devices is very long !

For most devices that come in two protocols, Matter and Zigbee, are available in the integration that includes the FP300.

I discovered Homey for my roller blinds, which use the 433 MHz protocol. Over time, they began using their Graphical User Interface more frequently, which is in many ways better and allows me to share flows with my family easily.

I hope this helps

[hennelzsolt]

Hello, thanks for your valuable summary. I think Homey’s real selling point would be -on the top ability to use many protocols in their hardware- if they can solve the updates of the connected devices from different manufacturers. Unfortunately it’s not possible as of now, so you have to use other manufacturer’s hub to stay up to date with firmware versions. That part is really questioning the price/value ratio of Homey hubs. In short, user should chose between direct integration and firmware update opportunity.

[HenriDo]

Yes, I agree with you. For instance, in HomeKit, there are a few brands that are willing to provide updates for their devices. I see Eve Home doing it, but there aren’t many.

In HA, I’ve seen some updates for certain products, but I’ve also seen a lot of « false positive » updates. This is because the ID of the hardware changes from one country to another.

There are also some repositories on GitHub where third-party brands can publish updates. These types of sites are used by MQQT or HA. However, there isn’t a standard for updates.

I hope Matter will provide a framework for that, but even then, the question of responsibility remains. If something goes wrong, who is to blame? The brand, the platform, or the user? It’s a very difficult topic.

Yes I agree, I’ù using the M3 to keep update on my Aqara Devices, but that adding another layer on the Automation which should not be.

[The_Heckmeister]

Homey Pro is a great bit of kit. I went from HA to homey after getting fed up of updates in HA that would end up nerfing my devices and id have to re add and so on …so I took the plunge and went for Homey.

I’m glad I did, it’s been solid so far …had a few minor niggles to start with, but they were more me than the hardware. There isn’t anything (so far) that I can’t do on Homey, that I couldn’t do with HA.

The software is easy to use and very intuitive, to a point where it’s very easy to set up even for a beginner. The Advanced flows are super and are much like Node Red on HA but you can do basic flows if you don’t want to get to complex.

As for cost, when you add up all the things such as, ZigBee, Z-Wave and so on adapters you have to buy with HA and the hardware to install it on …Nabu Casa …it pretty much evens out the price and they are pretty much in line with each other. I would never Knock HA, I think it’s more of a preference thing. Do you want ease …or a headache of a learning curve lol …

Either way, each to their own and there is plenty of room for each eco system

I use an M100 with my homey as a Matter bridge to bring certain Aqara devices in, which works well.