Hello everyone,
I’m writing this post to share my experience, in the hope that it may be helpful to other users or even to the developers of Homey. This is an honest testimony, born from years of use, many attempts to fix things, and, ultimately, an inevitable choice.
1. Problems with Technical Support and the Lack of Assistance
The most serious problem isn’t even technical, but human: after reporting a critical bug (Alexa could no longer discover new devices from Homey), I was completely ignored. I wrote several times, received only a generic response saying they were working on it… and then nothing more. No updates, no follow-up, even after weeks.
In the meantime, I continued to discover other problems, including one that really left me frustrated: the “Moods” feature, purchased specifically to create scenes to use with Alexa. Alexa could “see” the Mood, but it could never control it. I paid for a feature that never worked. Even after repeated reports, nothing was resolved.
I was tired. So, I decided to take a step that seemed extreme, but turned out to be liberating: I switched to Home Assistant.
(For the record, I was using a Homey Pro 2019.)
2. Differences Between Homey and Home Assistant: A Radical Change
Startup Time
- Home Assistant is up and running in less than a minute after a complete restart.
- Homey took almost 15 minutes, and I often had to restart apps like Philips Hue or Better Logic manually because they wouldn’t work correctly.
Responsiveness and Dashboard
- On my low-end phone, the Home Assistant app opens in less than 2 seconds, and everything is controllable remotely, with an incredible level of customization.
- With Homey, one time out of five, the app couldn’t connect (error “Homey not reachable”), and even when it did, it took 10-15 seconds to load the screens, with additional delays in sending commands.
Zigbee and Z-Wave Networks
- Finally, they work really well! On Home Assistant, I found astonishing responsiveness: commands are delivered instantly, even to devices I used to consider subpar (such as some Fibaro devices).
- With Homey, however, it was always a struggle: devices lost, delays in commands, random activations. I tried everything: changing channels, repositioning the device, recreating networks… nothing worked. I believe (my personal opinion) that putting all the antennas in one compact device compromised its stability.
3. Advanced Features in Home Assistant that Improve the Overall Experience
I could go on for hours, but here are some things that Home Assistant offers me and Homey doesn’t:
- Node-RED, a power that overshadows the Advanced Flow.
- Flexible Alexa Integration: I can choose what to expose and what not. The exposed devices are instantly recognized, without even having to start the discovery process from Alexa. If I change a device name on Home Assistant, the name changes immediately on Alexa. And when I delete or hide a device from Home Assistant, it automatically gets removed from Alexa as well. With Homey, I used to always end up with a bunch of useless devices added automatically, even though I didn’t want to use them with the voice assistant.
- Complete system backups (not paid).
- Detailed logs, which finally allow me to understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
- Android widgets that work and are customizable. With Homey, after a few days, the widgets would stop working: the widget name would disappear, and it became non-interactive, rendering them completely unusable.
- Easy and powerful creation of complex scenes.
- Energy consumption monitoring built in: I can see real-time usage and costs, with clear and fast graphs.
- Direct camera streaming from the dashboard.
- Native management of device groups, where I can add or remove devices at any time without breaking anything, not even the automations.
And most importantly: I no longer have to write my own integrations!
With Homey, for certain unsupported (or poorly supported) devices, I had to create my own integrations, which involved a lot of time and often fragile solutions. With Home Assistant, however, I find ready-made and well-done integrations even for niche devices. It’s an open ecosystem, carefully maintained down to the smallest detail.
Final Thoughts
After spending so much time with Homey, trying to solve problems and spending money on features that never worked as promised, I decided to make a change. Home Assistant offered me a more stable, flexible solution with features that Homey couldn’t provide. I now feel more satisfied with my choice because it allows me to have full control and responsiveness that I couldn’t even imagine before.
This transition wasn’t easy, but over time I realized that the difference in service quality, device management, and customization options is enormous. I don’t want to give the impression that Homey isn’t valid for some users, but in my experience, the lack of technical support and concrete solutions to issues made me choose an alternative that offers much more.
I hope my experience will be useful to those considering these platforms. If anyone else finds themselves in the same situation, I hope this post will help them make a more informed decision. For me, Home Assistant is now the choice that allowed me to enjoy my smart home again without frustration.
Best regards to everyone, with the hope that things improve for those staying with Homey, and an open reflection for anyone looking for a more complete and stable solution.
