The top home automation systems bring together all of your smart home devices in one hub, combining an intuitive interface with voice control to make your life easier.
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The power source is one of the first things you must consider when choosing a home security device -- do you need something battery- or solar-powered, or something hardwired?
Always consider your budget and try to strike a balance between it and the features you need from a home security device. High-end and 'Pro' models offer more advanced features, but these can be superfluous, especially if you don't want to spend the higher cost.
Whether a subscription is required and what for are deciding factors when choosing a home security device. Companies like Ring and Arlo offer subscription plans for cloud video recording storage and additional features, but this adds to the cost.
Smart home integrations
For many smart home users, smart home system compatibilities can make or break a smart home device. Consider if your device will work with Alexa, Google Assistant, or others.
SmartThings Best home automation system overall View now View at SmartThings Home Assistant Best home automation system without a hub View now View at Home Assistant Apple HomeKit Best home automation system for Apple users View now View at Apple Amazon Alexa Best home automation system for voice control View now View at Amazon Google Home Best home automation system for Google's ecosystem View now View at Google Home Best home automation system to automate everything View now View at IFTTT Show more (1 item)We're not living the Jetsons' life yet, but we're slowly getting there. With many home automation systems available and many brands selling smart home devices, it can feel a bit overwhelming when you're creating a smart home ecosystem.
So, we set out to find the best home automation system for your needs. Our team of home tech experts personally tested these options to find the ins and outs of each system. Based on factors like features, installation, and price, we found SmartThings to be the best home automation system overall, but that's not your only option. Read on for more on the best home automation systems you can buy today.
SmartThings features: Voice controls with smart home assistants | Easy to use | Compatible with over 5,000 devices
The thing with home automation systems is that it's important to find one that suits your needs, that is user-friendly to your abilities, and that has good compatibility with the brands or devices you want to stick with -- and SmartThings has both. SmartThings is the best home automation system because, aside from high support among brands, its app promises a straightforward and friendly user interface.
The navigation on the SmartThings mobile application is highly intuitive: Any favorite devices, scenes, and automations appear as cards right on the app's home screen, with options to add more devices just a tap of a finger away. Editing, adding, and removing automations are also readily available from a menu at the bottom of the screen.
The SmartThings application comes with all Galaxy phones, but is also available on the Google Play store and the App Store for Apple users.
Along with its UI, SmartThings is probably the platform that offers the most support for smart devices on the market. With Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Z-Wave protocols built into the Aeotec hub, you'll have hundreds of brands and over 5,000 smart devices already on the market to choose from.
Created by Samsung, you can also add smart Samsung devices to your smart home through SmartThings, to let you see how long you have to go on your washer and dryer or dishwasher right from your mobile device. Users can also control smart lights, determining brightness, light color, and white temperature all from the app.
Additionally, you can add voice control with SmartThings, with the ability to add Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa right on the app.
Show Expert Take Show lessHome Assistant features: Doesn't require a hub to control all devices | Works with over 1,000 APIs | Simplified UI
Home Assistant is an open-source system that lets users control their smart home in a very intuitive manner. The biggest highlight for Home Assistant is that you don't need to buy a hub to use it. You can run Home Assistant on Windows, MacOS, Linux, ODROID, the Asus Tinkerboard, or a Raspberry Pi -- the latter being the most popular due to its low energy consumption.
Home Assistant runs locally, only pulling data from the cloud when there is no other choice, making it snappier, more responsive, and more secure than other systems.While Home Assistant previously held a reputation for a complex interface, its since simplified the UI to make for easier navigation for the average smart home enthusiast.
Setup involves adding your location, choosing an administrator, and your preferences. Home Assistant will then discover the devices and services on your network and let you add them to your configuration. Once everything is in motion, you'll hopefully see that Home Assistant is one of the fastest and most responsive home automation systems on the market.
Additionally, Home Assistant integrates with over 1000 different APIs; it'll work locally, over the cloud, via Zigbee and Z-Wave, via Bluetooth, and, coming soon, with Matter.
As far as support for voice control, you can add Amazon, Alexa, and Google Assistant to command your smart home. And though Home Assistant runs on a local server, you can also download a mobile app as a companion and to control your devices and get alerts.
Show Expert Take Show lessApple HomeKit features: Simple design and easy-to-use features | Control smart home features from your Apple device | Improved automation power
HomeKit is Apple's option for smart home automation systems. A HomePod Mini or an Apple TV 4K both double as a hub for HomeKit, which is pretty nifty considering you're getting two uses from one device.
The HomeKit mobile application is reminiscent of the SmartThings app in its visual outline but I'd say with a simpler design to make it more user-friendly. Devices appear on the application as cards, with your favorite accessories and a preview of your favorite camera feed accessible from the app's home.
Additionally, shortcuts appear at the top of the page, with buttons to access your security system, see what devices are running, and any accessories that aren't responding.
I've had a pretty good experience overall with Apple's Home app, though I do find some bugs now and then and some things that could be streamlined, like an easier way to see all rooms on one page.
It's also worth noting that HomeKit has improved its automation power in recent years. Automations are easily added in the Home app, which walks you through how to customize them. You can have different triggers for automations, like when someone leaves or arrives, a time of day, an accessory is controlled or a sensor detects something.
A drawback with this system's available automations is that HomeKit won't run automations that involve unlocking a door when you arrive home, for example, without first confirming it on your phone. This is part of Apple's safeguarding of its users' security, but it means that if you want to unlock your smart lock when you get home automatically, you'll have to open the app each time you arrive to initiate action. While the lock bug kind of takes the auto out of automation, there are some unofficial workarounds we've found to be quite effective.
Because Apple is more strict in its data security and consumer privacy policies, HomeKit is limited to HomeKit-certified devices. So, so just because an item is labeled as smart, it won't necessarily be compatible with it. It's important to always look for that label on a device you'd like to buy for your Apple smart home ecosystem.
With HomeKit, you'll be able to control your smart home from your iPhone, iPad, or even your Apple Watch, making this the absolute best home automation system for Apple users.
Show Expert Take Show lessAmazon Alexa features: Intuitive voice controls | Fantastic automation power through the Alexa app | Easy-to-use interface
Voice control is a focal point in home automation. You want to feel like a high baller when you walk in and have a robot assistant waiting on you 24/7, right?
Having tried Google, Alexa, and Siri, I can tell you that for voice control fans, the right voice assistant can make or break your smart home. Personally, I find Alexa to be the most accurate in her responses and understanding of my commands, Google is probably middle of the road, and Siri still plays Sweet Caroline when I ask her to turn on the downstairs lights.
Now, Alexa isn't perfect, we know that. But she is a favorite for smart homes and going the Amazon Alexa route ensures vast compatibility, as it's the most popular voice assistant out there.
Setting up the Amazon Alexa app is pretty easy, the platform is built around Alexa, and you can easily add devices and customize your home. And with Amazon's Frustration-Free Setup, setting up new devices will become even easier with fewer steps.
I do wish that some things like routines and your devices were more easily accessible on the Alexa App. Though they are both available on the app's home, I find myself getting distracted by all of Alexa's suggestions. And, to be honest, the app just isn't the easiest to navigate in the beginning. You get used to it, however, and learn to easily make your way around it, but it shouldn't have to take as long as it does to reach that point.
Alexa is available on multiple Amazon devices, like the Echo speakers and Fire TV devices. It works through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee (on Echo 4th Gen, Echo Show except 1st Gen, and Echo Studio), and more recently, Matter.
The Alexa app has some pretty good automation power. Amazon is set on making America's voice assistant out of Alexa, so it's put quite a lot of effort into making sure she helps optimize productivity, routines, shopping, your access to information and current events, and how you cook and enjoy your music.
An Echo device, either a speaker or display, will give you access to thousands of skills and dozens of available routines to make the most of all your smart devices. You can set your Echo to detect a barking dog and have Alexa either play soothing music or let you drop in to soothe them. Alexa can even turn off a light when it hears snoring in the room, how creepy is that? Cool, I meant cool.
There are countless ways to take advantage of Alexa's automation power and, with popularity still pretty high, more are turning up every day.
