Hi there!
I have just bought Homey Pro, dealing with initial setup etc. and I must be missing something.
My initial idea was to get “1 hub for all”. I do have IKEA Dirigera hub, Philips Hue hub, Aquara hub etc. and I bought Homey Pro to basically get rid of all of these and have 1 universal hub instead.
However, I am able to connect my A/C, bulbs, sensors smoothly to Homey app, BUT I am not able to do this without a hub as I need to create Matter code to be able to integrate.
Question: Do I or do I not must have all other hubs to include 3rd party devices to Homey Pro? If not, how do I add for example Philips Hue without Hue hub? I am struggling in finding out. Many thanks, if this has been answered before I am sorry and please just share a link! Thanks!
“It depends”.
For example, the official Hue app requires the Hue hub. There’s a community app that also supports most Hue devices directly: Philips Hue, without the bridge App for Homey | Homey (however, check the app page to make sure it supports your devices).
IKEA devices are supported directly, without the Dirigera hub. However, if you want to perform firmware updates of your IKEA devices, you can’t use Homey for that.
As for Aqara devices: a lot of Zigbee devices are supported by Homey directly, but others require the Aqara hub.
Matter (over WiFi and Thread) is directly supported by Homey, you don’t need any third-party hubs for that. However, Homey’s Matter support is limited, a lot of device types aren’t supported. Check this page for the types that are supported.
Thank you @robertklep for reply. However… I am afraid I am missing added value for 400 USD hub here. So far (my first day with Homey Pro) it can do the same as any other “home hub” like Apple Homepod, Apple TV, Google Nest, Amazon Alexa… yes, it can integrate different products which are compatible, HOWEVER I do need a hub for full functionality (updates etc.). I can add my Hue lights to any home center from Apple, Google or Amazon if I have a HUE hub - no need for 400 USD Homey Pro?? For voice assistant I need one of those above anyway. I am still missing what is the added value for Homey Pro. I have read dozens of reviews for the best hub available but my perception is this is doing the same as Homepod for 100 USD (which has a speaker, mic and Siri, on top). If I need additional hubs for all 3rd party devices why should I buy Homey Pro (I already did but thinking of returning Homey Pro 
)
How many flows have you made with Homey yet? The added value for Homey is its ability to create elaborate flows for all the devices that it controls, and in my experience the automation functionality of the “big” platforms is very limited.
That said, you can do the same with Home Assistant running on a spare computer or in a virtual machine, Homey just looks nicer.
Sure, I understand. I just wanted to get rid of several hubs I do have at home. That was roughly what seller recommended me - Homey Pro. But its not the case. Sure, flows seems nice as an extra feature but its not game changer for me and definitely not worth 400 bucks.
How many hubs do you guys have at home? Because in my really basic “smart” home I do have 4 and I am in need of at least 2 more. This makes no sense
Can you update all devices (hue, aqara, ikea etc.) via homepod without using an additional hub? Can you also control z-wave, zigbee etc. devices with the homepod?
If you deal with homey pro, you will notice relatively quickly how easy it is to use everything via the same app. And as robert wrote, if you have created some flows, you will be able to enjoy the advantages. But, you have to deal with it first, just like you once did with apple home…
Because this thing is really fun 
Thank you for your input. To understand my doubts - I really would like to see the advantages of Homey Pro - but still struggling. Yes, you are correct, I need all 3rd party hubs with Homepod, Alexa or Google Assistant for updates - and yes, I can control all compatible 3rd party devices via Home Kit once I have 3rd party hubs - just like with Homey Pro. I believe the list of compatible devices is not that different. The difference here is around 300 bucks for flows. Is there any other advantage for Homey Pro worth the extra money…?
Some benefits that comes to my mind right now:
- The Homey app store with so many additional integrations that you can’t have with Apple, Google. Alexa has also a lot of integration but I’m not convinced by it (ads on their dashboards, cloud based etc…). Maybe have a look at Homey app store to get inspired if not already done.
- Multi platform support. If you invest in Home Kit today and in 3 years you want to switch to Android for whatever reasons, it will be pretty difficult. Also, is everyone in your home on the same ecosystem?
- Depending how much of a data nerd you are it might or might not be relevant but another benefits is also insights. (Not perfect are the values are averaged over time but still something good to have)
- The UI is by far, miles ahead of Google Home. Not even mentioning data privacy issues with Google.
Not sure how many smart devices you already have but whenever I buy new devices I try to first focus on Matter compatability and if not available, compatability with as many other system as possible. I hate the idea of being locked down in one ecosystem. Similar to creating an email address with your internet provider 
Many thanks for your reply, appreciate it. As for your comment above:
- I believe Homey Pro is the winner here - however, I am sure everybody has some “voice assistant” at home whatever it is (Google, Apple, Amazon) - so you already have your hub before you even start with smart home.
- As for HomeKit - I am not aware of any 3rd party device with not available alternative at comparable functionality at fair price. I am not user of Alexa or Google, but especially for Alexa I have good feedback from friends of mine.
- What do you mean by switching from HomeKit to Alexa difficulty? I have IKEA - compatible with all systems. I have HUE - compatible with all systems. I have AQARA - compatible with all systems. I dont see any issues here. We are 100% Apple, however, even if not so - I dont see any compatibility issues as mentioned above. For all systems (Apple, Amazon, Google, Homey Pro - I need manufacturers hubs)
- I am not familiar with insights - I will try to get more info on this.
- UI - I can only compare with Home Kit, which is pretty similar for basic functionality. Data privacy - agreed on Google, I have no privacy information on Homey Pro. Lets consider Apple safe choice, too.
- Last but not least - I am trying to find advantages so I can keep my Homey Pro as No. 1 choice hub for my home, just struggling to make it work. Many thanks for all your inputs!
Absolutely got that point and that’s what we will try to help with
- I’m not sure why voice assistant here. Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, I’m referring to this: Apps for Homey Pro
You put a lot of emphasis on voice control but a good home automation is something that works in the background.
Don’t get me wrong I also have couple of Nest speakers but talking to them few times a day is not my thing anymore. I limit it to the bare minimum. - and 3. It depends the devices you own or will purchase in the future. Agreed with those ones you mentioned but once you will start to extend your home automation and go beyond light bulbs and few other Aqara sensors, that’s where things start to be different. Not all devices works with all smart home platforms. I think I can safely assume that more devices are compatible with Homey than HomeKit.
Does your friend has an echo show with ads taking 1/3 of the screen or even full screen?
Reddit - Dive into anything
I heard many tech enthusiasts leaving Alexa recently and Amazon already said their business model is not working and that’s why they are now looking at different ways of making revenue with Alexa. I would not be surprised if they add a subscription to it in the future.
5 HomeKit is probably the closest one in terms of design but I can’t really compare since I don’t use it. Not sure how their Dashboards looks like as a wall mounted iPad for example. Google is just the most ugly one of all
I almost forgot but you also have infrared signal support with Homey. Quiet handy if you don’t want to turn off energy saving option in your TV and Xbox and constantly use 20 watts of power but still want to be able to turn it on with your flows. Or if you have other devices such as AC, fans, Blu-ray player and so on
I hope my little rant on Google and Alexa helps you make the right choice for you
How many hubs do you guys have at home?
If you want, you can connect (almost)all Zigbee devices to Homey so you don’t need the Hue, Ikea (or Aqara etc.) bridges, You then have only one Zigbee mesh.
When you then want to turn on lights, sockets or the AC you can combine and use them all with the Homey App, this is the same with 433Mhz or Zwave devices, they are all controllable in the same app (Homey app) and controlled with the same hub/bridge (Homey Pro).
Automations (or Flows) work for all devices connected to the Homey Pro and compared to Homekit you will have way more options.
So in the end you can get rid of all your bridges and only use a Homey Pro.
I’m using Homeassistent (on a NUC) that is basically the same as using Homey but the Homey Pro is an all in one antenna device with a great software experience. 
Hello again. So far, I have been able to connect without hub devices manufactured by AQARA and IKEA. So far so good. I believe HUE by Philips can be connected, too. All of these are Zigbee standard. Have few more issues with other functionality but I will search forum, first.
Thank you all for your support here, it seems I will give it a shot 
Regards. R.
I own a Homey Pro also and still need the other hubs. Not only for firmware updates. The case is that homey apps mostly don’t support all the functionality of some other products but onky the basic functionality. As you said flows basic or advanced for routines are not the gsmechangers. Most other hubs have dome routine possibilities.
So I agree: the homey looks nice but is not worth the money because for full functionality you still need all the other hubs. In my opinion it is better to find a brand with a hub that sells all or most of the products you need and stick with that one hub. I am looking around for that now and in the near future there will be no homey in the house I think.
One more point to mention in Athom’s favour, the price you paid also includes Homey Pro updates and cloud service for an unlimited time, no subscriptions. I have just upgraded to a new Pro having had the original 2016 version from the year it was launched, fully functioning, and supported at no extra cost.
I´ll just add that i run hue, z-wave, zigbee, modbus-tcp, knx through homey. All integrated with eachother, no extra hubs. It works like a charm. Though i am not upgrading firmwares very often because i don´t reaally feel the need. Onvif support, synology app and unifi app is also on the + side.
Good luck with your project!
Yep, I tend to agree here on the part that what Homey advertises as “support for a device” is many times inadequate. My example is with Danfoss app and Danfoss Ally radiators. The app misses some key functionalities and generally works poorly. What I would like to do is to leave the whole core heating logic to an external hub like Danfoss’s own Ally Gateway, and only give temp setting commands every now and then to it, but I can’t do that either since Ally Gateway does not support Matter, but only their own cloud API for integration. My hope is that Ally Gateway would have Matter support in the future.
Generally speaking I am happy to have several hubs if that would provide me with a reliable solution for my different smart home needs. And I think and hope that is the future. Matter will be more and more common in the future (fingers crossed) to integrate hubs for specialized purposes and then Homey Pro could work as the master hub for these.
