Best Self Hosted Alternatives to HOOBS

Open-source home automation platform that centralizes device control, automation, dashboards and voice interfaces while prioritizing local control and user privacy. It runs on common hardware (Raspberry Pi, servers, containers) and is extended by a large community of integrations and add-ons. (home-assistant.io)

Key Features

• Large integrations ecosystem and automatic device discovery, enabling support for thousands of devices and brands. (home-assistant.io)
• Flexible automation engine with triggers, conditions and actions that can be authored via UI or YAML for complex workflows. (home-assistant.io)
• Customizable dashboards (Lovelace) and mobile companion apps for controlling and monitoring homes from phones, tablets and TVs. (home-assistant.io)
• Built-in APIs and developer interfaces: REST API and a persistent WebSocket API for realtime control and integrations. (developers.home-assistant.io)
• Recorder/history subsystem with SQLAlchemy-backed databases; SQLite is the default with optional support for MariaDB/MySQL and PostgreSQL. (home-assistant.io)
• Extensible via Python-based integrations, add-ons and an ecosystem of community-developed components; project source and development tooling are available on the core repository. (github.com)

Use Cases

• Automate lighting, HVAC, security sensors and scenes across mixed-brand smart-home devices to reduce manual control and improve convenience.
• Centralize energy monitoring, solar/battery integration and consumption dashboards for home energy management.
• Expose local APIs and realtime telemetry to custom applications or dashboards, or integrate voice assistants and presence-based automations.

Limitations and Considerations

• Some device integrations still require vendor cloud accounts or third-party services for full feature sets; behavior can vary by integration. (home-assistant.io)
• Recorder/database changes and migration are not automatically supported and require planning when switching database backends. (home-assistant.io)

Home Assistant is a mature, community-driven platform for self-hosted smart-home control, offering deep customization and broad device support. It is suited for hobbyists and advanced users who want local-first automation with an active developer community. (home-assistant.io)

Zigbee2MQTT is a bridge that connects Zigbee devices to an MQTT broker, allowing you to use Zigbee devices without the vendor’s proprietary hub. It translates Zigbee events and commands into MQTT topics so they can be integrated with many home automation systems.

Key Features

• Works with a wide range of Zigbee adapters and an extensive list of supported devices
• Publishes device events to MQTT and accepts MQTT commands to control devices
• Maintains a local state database for paired devices and their capabilities
• Web-based interfaces for monitoring and configuration (via companion frontends)
• Device model mapping via converters to support diverse vendor implementations

Use Cases

• Integrate Zigbee lights, sensors, and switches into an MQTT-based smart home setup
• Replace vendor Zigbee bridges while keeping local control and interoperability
• Build automations across platforms that can subscribe to and publish MQTT topics

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a compatible Zigbee USB adapter/coordinator and an MQTT broker
• Device compatibility depends on available converters; uncommon devices may need custom support

Zigbee2MQTT provides a practical way to standardize Zigbee device control through MQTT, enabling broad integration options across smart home ecosystems. It is well-suited for users who want flexibility and independence from vendor-specific gateways.

Domoticz is an open-source home automation system that helps you monitor sensors and meters and control devices such as lights and switches. It provides a responsive web interface that adapts to desktop and mobile browsers and supports running on multiple platforms.

Key Features

• Web-based HTML5 dashboard optimized for desktop and mobile
• Monitoring for many sensor and meter types (for example temperature, rain, wind, UV, power, gas, and water)
• Device control for switches, lights, and other home automation actuators
• Broad hardware and ecosystem support, including integrations such as Z-Wave, Zigbee, 1-Wire, P1 smart meters, and Philips Hue
• Notifications and alerts, including mobile push notifications
• Extended logging for troubleshooting and historical tracking
• Automation capabilities via scripting support (for example Lua)

Use Cases

• Centralized smart home dashboard for mixed-brand devices and sensors
• Energy and utility monitoring using smart meters and pulse counters
• Alerting for home conditions (temperature thresholds, water usage anomalies, and similar events)

Domoticz is a flexible option for building a unified smart home control plane with a lightweight web UI and broad device integration support. It is especially suited to users who want a locally managed system with scripting and strong sensor and meter monitoring features.

openHAB is a Java-based, vendor- and technology-agnostic open-source platform for home automation. It provides a modular runtime, a rules-driven automation engine and an ecosystem of add-ons to connect a wide range of devices and services.

Key Features

• Modular OSGi-based runtime built on Apache Karaf that supports dynamic add-on installation and lifecycle management
• Large add-on ecosystem (bindings, UIs, persistence, actions) enabling integration with hundreds of device protocols and cloud services
• Flexible rules engine with time/event triggers, scripts and actions for complex automations
• Multiple user interfaces and clients, including web UI and native mobile apps for Android and iOS, plus textual sitemap and dashboard options
• Native protocol support and integrations such as MQTT and REST APIs for device and service connectivity
• Platform portability: runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Raspberry Pi and container environments (Docker)
• Remote access and cloud connector service for optional remote control and notifications

Use Cases

• Centralize control and automation across heterogeneous smart-home devices (lights, sensors, thermostats, media, etc.)
• Build scheduled and event-driven automations (energy management, presence-based actions, safety alerts)
• Expose and integrate local devices with voice assistants or third-party services via bindings and REST endpoints

Limitations and Considerations

• The underlying OSGi/Karaf architecture and Java-based modular system has a steeper learning curve for users unfamiliar with JVM/OSGi concepts
• Many integrations are community-maintained; availability, quality and update cadence of individual bindings can vary and may require manual troubleshooting
• Advanced configurations often involve both UI and text-based files (sitemaps, item configs, scripts), which can be complex for beginners

openHAB is suited for users who need a highly extensible, protocol-agnostic automation platform and are willing to invest time learning its modular runtime and configuration model. It emphasizes flexibility, privacy and long-term community-driven development.

TasmoAdmin is a web-based administrative platform for managing devices flashed with Tasmota (commonly ESP8266/ESP32-based smart plugs and sensors). It provides a centralized dashboard to discover devices on your network, view status and sensor data, and perform maintenance tasks like configuration and firmware updates.

Key Features

• Login-protected web interface
• AutoScan device discovery for Tasmota devices on the network
• Bulk operations across multiple devices, including sending commands
• Multi-device firmware update workflow with selectable targets
• Automatic firmware download mode for updating to the latest Tasmota builds
• Device information and sensor/status visibility (including multiple sensors)
• Mobile-responsive UI with theme options (including night mode)
• Multiple deployment options (standalone on a PHP web server or via container)

Use Cases

• Centralized management of multiple Tasmota-based smart plugs, switches, and sensors
• Bulk OTA firmware updates and routine maintenance for a fleet of devices
• Quick diagnostics by viewing device details and sending commands from one UI

Limitations and Considerations

• Designed specifically for Tasmota devices; functionality depends on Tasmota’s exposed endpoints and features
• The built-in self-update for TasmoAdmin may be disabled in some deployment modes (for example, container installs)

TasmoAdmin is a practical choice for homelabs and smart-home setups that rely on Tasmota, offering a lightweight web UI for discovery, monitoring, and bulk device administration.

LHA is a lightweight, single-process home automation engine written in Lua. It provides a scheduler, an embedded HTTP server and an extensions system to connect gateways, record sensor history and compose automations using Blockly or Lua scripts.

Key Features

• Single-process Lua engine with built-in scheduler and HTTP server
• Exposes Thing Description JSON API (Web of Things) for device descriptions
• Blockly visual scripting plus Lua extensions for advanced automations
• Web-based UI built with Vue, includes dashboards and charts for historical data
• Supports gateways and protocols such as Hue/ConBee and Z-Wave (via Z-Wave JS) and integrates with MQTT
• Records device property values into time-based log files for history and charting
• Extension system to add device mappings and protocol adapters
• Very small footprint (~5 MB) and runs on small boards (Raspberry Pi) or general Linux/Windows systems

Use Cases

• Bridge and orchestrate devices across ZigBee, Z-Wave and Hue ecosystems in a single UI
• Build custom automations using Blockly or Lua to react to sensor data and control actuators
• Collect and visualize time-series sensor data locally for home monitoring and analysis

Limitations and Considerations

• Uses file-based time logs rather than a full database, which may be less convenient for very large datasets
• Device support depends on extension mapping files; adding or adapting some devices may require editing JSON mappings or writing extensions
• Single-process architecture and minimal footprint are geared toward small to medium deployments; very large, high-throughput installations may face performance constraints

LHA is suitable for users who want a compact, extensible home automation engine with local control, scripting flexibility and support for common gateway integrations. Its small size and Lua-based extension model make it easy to run on low-power hardware and to customize for specific device sets.