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I’ve spent years watching smart home promises fall flat. The app that stops working after an update. The device that only talks to half your other devices. The hub that needed its own degree program to configure. After a decade of buying into the “smart” home dream and ending up with a drawer full of expensive paperweights, I’d mostly given up.
Then I started hearing about Homey.
What Makes Homey Different
The Homey Pro (2026) is a smart home hub, but calling it that undersells what it actually does. This thing connects to basically everything: Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Matter, infrared, and 433MHz devices. That old motion sensor you bought in 2019? It probably works. The new Matter-enabled smart plug? Also works. The random brand of smart blinds you got on sale? Check the App Store, because there’s a good chance someone’s built support for it.
The 2026 model doubles the RAM compared to its predecessor, which means you can run over 100 apps simultaneously without the system grinding to a halt. For context, each brand or device type typically needs its own app. Running Philips Hue, Sonos, your thermostat, a few sensors, and some smart plugs easily adds up. The extra memory matters when you’re connecting an entire household.
The Hardware Lineup in 2026
Homey has expanded beyond just the flagship hub. Here’s what’s available now:
Homey Pro (2026) is the full-featured option. It handles the most demanding setups with room to grow. The doubled RAM addresses the biggest complaint from power users: slowdown when running dozens of integrations.
Homey Pro mini delivers the complete Homey experience in a smaller, more affordable package. It’s a privacy-first hub that processes everything locally rather than shipping your data to the cloud. If you’re getting started with home automation and want to test the waters, this makes sense.
Homey Self-Hosted Server is for the technically inclined. You run Homey on your own hardware, whether that’s a Raspberry Pi or a dedicated server. Full control, full responsibility. This appeals to people who already have home servers running other services.
Homey Energy Dongle connects to your P1 smart meter and provides real-time insights into your energy consumption. In Europe, where dynamic electricity pricing is common, this becomes genuinely useful rather than just interesting data.
Features That Actually Solve Problems
The software side has evolved significantly. A few highlights that matter for daily use:
Homey Energy Tab gives you a centralized view of power consumption across your connected devices. You can see which appliances are energy hogs, track usage over time, and identify opportunities to reduce your electricity bill. Not just graphs for the sake of graphs, but information you can act on.
Dynamic Electricity Prices integration takes energy monitoring further. If your utility offers variable pricing (cheaper at night, more expensive during peak hours), you can automate around it. Run the dishwasher when power is cheapest. Charge devices overnight. The system handles the timing.
Device Groups let you treat multiple devices as one. All the living room lights become “living room lights.” All the downstairs speakers become one audio zone. Simple concept, surprisingly powerful when you’re building automations.
Local Users means family members can control the smart home without needing cloud accounts. Set up access for your partner, your kids, or visiting parents without the “download this app and create an account and verify your email” routine.
Matter Bridge app exposes your Homey-connected devices to other Matter-compatible platforms. If someone in your house prefers Apple Home or Google Home for voice control, they can use it. Your investment in devices isn’t locked to one ecosystem.
The App Store Keeps Growing
This is where Homey’s strength becomes clear. The Homey App Store added 227 new apps in 2025, with December and January both setting records for submissions. The community is active. If you have a device that doesn’t work yet, there’s a decent chance someone’s working on it.
Each app extends Homey’s capabilities: new device support, new integrations, new ways to connect services. Some are official manufacturer releases. Many come from the developer community. The open approach means obscure devices often get support faster than they would from a closed ecosystem.
The Installer Program
For people who’d rather not configure their own smart home, Homey expanded their certified installer network in 2025. Hundreds of installers completed certification, and the system includes a clever feature: temporary, owner-approved access. An installer can configure and troubleshoot your setup without having permanent access to your home controls. When they’re done, access revokes.
This matters if you’re building out a rental property, helping aging parents, or simply prefer professional installation.
What’s Coming in 2026
Homey’s roadmap focuses on three areas: energy features, brand compatibility, and platform integrations. The energy focus makes sense given electricity costs and the push toward solar, batteries, and dynamic pricing. More brands means more devices work out of the box. Better integrations reduce the DIY tinkering required.
No specific product announcements yet, but the trajectory is clear. The company ships updates consistently rather than waiting for annual releases.
Is the Homey Pro (2026) Worth It?
The honest answer: it depends on your situation.
If you have three smart bulbs and a thermostat, you probably don’t need a hub this capable. Your existing app-based control works fine.
If you’ve accumulated devices from five different brands, grown frustrated with multiple apps that don’t communicate, and want one system that handles everything… this is the category of solution you need. Whether Homey specifically fits depends on your exact devices, but the compatibility list is extensive enough that most people find their stuff supported.
The Homey Pro (2026) runs about $400. It’s not cheap. But if you’ve already spent $1,000 or more on smart home devices that don’t work well together, the hub that actually connects them starts looking reasonable. Especially compared to ripping everything out and starting over with a single ecosystem.
The local processing is worth mentioning again. Your automations run on the device in your home, not on some company’s server. When their cloud has issues, your lights still work. When your internet goes down, your smart home keeps running. That reliability is worth something, particularly after you’ve experienced the alternative.
The Bottom Line
Smart home technology has matured past the early-adopter phase where everything required patience and troubleshooting. The Homey Pro (2026) represents what happens when a company builds for people who want their house to work, not for people who want a hobby. It connects the devices you already own, runs locally so it keeps working when the internet doesn’t, and has the processing power to handle a house full of smart stuff without choking.
The 2026 model’s doubled RAM addresses real-world scaling issues. The expanded product lineup (mini, self-hosted, energy dongle) means there’s an entry point for different needs and budgets. The growing App Store and installer network suggest the platform has momentum rather than stagnating.
For anyone tired of the smart home promise falling short, this is worth investigating.
