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Home Assistant is renaming its optional Home Assistant Cloud service to Home Assistant Link, while keeping its core features and subscription prices. Founder Paulus Schoutsen says the change reflects the platform’s preference for local control, as the team also works to make Home Assistant easier for newcomers.
Home Assistant is renaming Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link, a change founder Paulus Schoutsen described to The Verge as a response to the cloud’s reputation among big technology companies. The announcement is mostly a rebrand: the service’s features and subscription prices will remain the same, while the open-source platform continues to emphasize local smart-home control.
Schoutsen told The Verge that the new name is intended in part to prevent prospective users from assuming that Home Assistant itself runs in the cloud. Home Assistant runs on local hardware and controls devices on a home network locally. That means users generally cannot reach their setup from outside that network without a remote-access method. Link offers one way to do that, alongside other internet-dependent features.
The subscription costs $6.50 a month or $65 a year. According to the report, Link provides remote access and can support integrations with Alexa and Google voice control, speech-to-text and text-to-speech, and encrypted backups. The service is run by Nabu Casa, Home Assistant’s commercial partner. Schoutsen said Link traffic is encrypted and that the service cannot access users’ data. Those privacy statements are his description of how the service operates.
The rebrand is not a requirement to use Home Assistant. The source says the service was optional under its previous name, and users could use other methods to reproduce its functions; that remains true for Link. The report also says the back end is receiving improvements intended to increase speed and reliability, but provides no performance figures.
A Paid Route to Remote Access
The change clarifies the distinction between local control and optional online services. A Home Assistant installation can operate locally, but remote access and some features that rely on internet services require an online connection or another solution. The new name may make that arrangement clearer to users who associate “cloud” with a system that depends on remote servers to function.
Link also supports Home Assistant’s funding model. The report says 60 percent of its profit goes to the Open Home Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the project. That makes the paid service part of the platform’s development funding, even as Home Assistant argues against products whose basic functions depend on a manufacturer’s servers.
The broader stakes concern what happens when companies discontinue online services. Schoutsen cited past products that lost functions after their servers were shut down, and argued that smart-home devices should keep working locally. That is his case for the platform’s approach, not a guarantee that every device connected to Home Assistant will operate independently of the internet.
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Local Control and Cloud Concerns
Home Assistant is an open-source smart-home platform that lets users connect and automate devices from different manufacturers. Schoutsen told The Verge that many people discover it after running into limits with services such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Apple Home. Its flexibility can also make it harder to set up and use than more restricted consumer platforms.
The service name had created an awkward contrast with the project’s criticism of cloud-dependent devices. Schoutsen told The Verge that Home Assistant’s team believes products should prioritize local control, open standards, and user control of data. He named Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave, MQTT, and ESPHome as examples of technologies manufacturers could support. He also said the team is building a database to help shoppers identify products that rely heavily on cloud services.
The report places the rebrand within a wider effort to make Home Assistant more accessible without removing advanced options. Schoutsen estimated that the platform is installed in about 2.7 million homes, but acknowledged that it remains much smaller than major mainstream smart-home ecosystems. He described the goal as lowering the learning barrier without limiting what experienced users can do.
“Big tech ruined the cloud, so we’re out.”
— Paulus Schoutsen, Home Assistant founder, speaking to The Verge
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Details Still Awaited on Simplification
The report does not provide a precise rollout schedule for the Link name or quantify the planned back-end improvements. It also does not specify what technical changes, if any, users will need to make when the rebrand takes effect. The source says the service’s features and prices are staying the same, but does not give a detailed migration guide.
Several broader product plans remain incomplete or short on detail. Schoutsen discussed a successor to the Home Assistant Green hub intended to be easier to set up, but the report does not give a model name, price, or confirmed launch date beyond saying the team plans a new hub next year. The source also mentions a “No Device Left Behind” program and development of devices to connect older or analog technology, but the supplied report excerpt does not explain its scope or release timing.
The report describes an integration of the HACS community store into Home Assistant as planned for the following month. It does not confirm whether that schedule has since been met. The estimated installation count of 2.7 million homes is Schoutsen’s figure as reported by The Verge, not an independently verified market comparison.
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Simpler Setup Is the Next Test
Home Assistant’s next test is whether its planned usability changes can bring in less technical users while preserving the flexibility that attracts existing ones. The team is working on simpler dashboards and setup, and Schoutsen said integrating the HACS community store is intended to make community-built integrations easier to find and install. The report gives a target of the next month for that integration but does not establish a current completion status.
The company also plans a more user-friendly hub as a successor to Home Assistant Green, with Schoutsen comparing the intended setup experience to configuring a Philips Hue hub. The report places the planned launch in the following year, but gives no firm date or product specifications. The Link announcement itself leaves the underlying service largely intact; its practical effect will depend on how clearly the new name and future onboarding changes explain local control, remote access, and which features require an internet connection.
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Key Questions
What is Home Assistant Link?
Home Assistant Link is the renamed Home Assistant Cloud service, offering remote access and other internet-dependent features for a Home Assistant installation.
Does the rename change the service or its price?
The report says the service’s core features and prices remain the same: $6.50 monthly or $65 annually. It also reports planned back-end work aimed at speed and reliability, without providing performance details.
Does Home Assistant require Link?
No. The report says the service is optional, and users can use other methods for remote access or related functions. Home Assistant’s core system runs on local hardware and controls devices locally.
Why is Home Assistant changing the name?
Schoutsen said the name “Link” may better reflect the service’s role and avoid suggesting that Home Assistant itself runs in the cloud. He also connected the rebrand to the project’s criticism of products that depend on manufacturer cloud servers.
What other Home Assistant changes are planned?
The report describes work on simpler setup and dashboards, integrating the HACS community store, and developing a more user-friendly hub. The hub’s specifications and exact release date were not provided.
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