Homey Pro comparison to Hubitat

Off-Topic
1

I switched from Homey to Hubitat Elevation some time ago due to reliability issues I experienced with Homey. While it’s unfortunate that some discussions in forums can become a bit heated, I believe it’s more helpful to focus on sharing insights rather than pointing fingers. I want to offer a balanced perspective based on my own experiences with both platforms.

I’m back on this forum now because while Hubitat has its strengths, it’s not perfect, and I’ve been reconsidering a potential move back to Homey Pro. Homey has an impressive interface, a very powerful Flow editor, and broader support for European devices. However, the issue I experienced was with the reliability of the radio signal and the overall stability, which affected the performance of the flows. These are concerns that persist for me, as they were problematic in my earlier use of Homey.

In contrast, while Hubitat’s interface feels quite dated and creating rules can sometimes be frustrating, once you get the hang of it, it’s incredibly reliable. The radio strength has been outstanding in my experience, and it covers all distances within my home effectively. There’s often talk about radio interference between Zigbee and other devices, but in my case, running Hubitat alongside a Hue hub on different channels works seamlessly.

That being said, Hubitat could definitely improve in areas such as support for more European devices, particularly TRVs, and a more modern interface. Progress has been made, but there’s still room for improvement, and I’m hopeful that the future holds more development—especially with Matter, which could open up more device compatibility.

In the end, both systems have their pros and cons. Homey excels with its sleek interface and ease of use, while Hubitat offers robust reliability once you navigate its learning curve. If you’re sticking with Homey, perhaps try adding more repeaters to boost the radio signal. But if you’re open to trying Hubitat, be prepared for a bit of a learning curve, which, in my case, was worth it for the reliability it offers.

For now, I’m staying with my Hubitat C8 Pro but will continue to watch Homey’s development. Whichever platform ultimately finds the right balance of reliability and user experience will likely determine where I settle. I hope this helps, and that you find the solution that works best for your needs. My aim is not to claim one system is better than the other but to provide an alternative view to consider.

Best of luck in your decision-making!

2 Likes
2

My €0,02: at some point, you pretty much have all automations set up like you want, and the sleek interface isn’t something you will need on a day-to-day basis.

On the other hand, reliability is key. You don’t want to wake up finding that half your sensors aren’t responding anymore, or that when you switch on your living room lights a random number of them doesn’t switch on, requiring you to go back to that sleek interface to implement workarounds.

I literally have hundreds of devices/integrations that are being managed by my home automation platform, and they just work. Days, even weeks go by without me having to pay attention to it, and when I do, it’s typically to add something new or to just improve something (if I feel like it).

The only issues I run in to have external causes, like a sensor running out of battery or some of my IKEA lights forgetting their settings after a power outage.

So yes: Homey looks incredible, but sometimes I feel that’s just veneer. It has many issues and quirks, often ones that Homey users have grown accustomed to (“I just reboot my Homey every night”). And even though it may support more European devices, my experience is that it still often lacks, especially when it comes to Zigbee devices.

1 Like
3

Reliability is indeed crucial, and you are absolutely right—once a system runs smoothly, it often becomes something we can set and forget, without needing a fancy interface. That said, as someone who enjoys tinkering with my setup, I tend to interact with the interface more frequently for review and optimization purposes.

While Hubitat has been consistently reliable in my experience, there are a few limitations that, while not deal-breakers, can cause some frustration. Specifically, the only officially supported TRV has posed ongoing issues for me. Despite setting the desired temperature and mode correctly, my Spirit TRV will sometimes overheat, even when set to 22°C. The only solution I’ve found is to remove and reinsert the batteries. Additionally, these units are prone to malfunctioning—about one of my ten units fails annually—and replacements are often hard to find.

Another challenge is that the TRV’s logic involves listening to the network for a brief period, then going into sleep mode. As a result, there can be delays in responsiveness—sometimes it reacts immediately, but other times I have to resend commands multiple times. My previous system handled these delays gracefully, always setting the correct temperature, even if with a slight delay. Hubitat, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to manage this as well. To mitigate this, I’ve created a custom rule that loops through commands, setting the temperature, waiting 10 seconds, and verifying until it’s correct.

image
image1652×256 34.2 KB

Given that this is the only officially supported TRV, I believe it would be helpful for Hubitat to address these issues more effectively. I’ve raised this in the community forums several times, and while staff have responded, we have yet to see changes or broader support for other TRVs.

4

OK, after having a closer look, I’m not sure that this :

image
image416×1010 60.8 KB

is really better than this :

image
image2030×518 81.6 KB