Home Assistant

What is Home Assistant

Home Assistant is free and open-source software for home automation, designed to be an Internet of things (IoT) ecosystem-independent integration platform and smart home hub for controlling smart home devices, with a focus on local control and privacy. Its interface can be accessed through a web-based user interface, by using companion apps for Android and iOS, or by voice commands via a supported virtual assistant, such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Home Assistant's own "Assist" (a built-in local voice assistant) using natural language.

Automation

Home Assistant acts as a central smart home controller hub by combining different devices and services in a single place and integrating them as entities. The provided rule-based system for automation allows creating custom routines based on a trigger event, conditions and actions, including scripts. These enable building automation, alarm management of security alarms and video surveillance for home security system as well as monitoring of energy measuring devices.

Security

Home Assistant is an on-premises software product with a focus on local control, which has been described as beneficial to the security of the platform, specifically when compared to closed-source home automation software based on proprietary hardware and cloud-services.

There is no remote access enabled by default and data is stored solely on the device itself. User accounts can be secured with two-factor authentication to prevent access even if the user password becomes compromised. Add-ons receive a security rating based on their access to system resources.