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Home Assistant vs Amazon Alexa

Home Assistant scores 26 out of 30 and Amazon Alexa scores 14. Home Assistant is ahead on footprint, lock-in, self-direction, power and longevity. Amazon Alexa is ahead on delivery.

Home Assistant

The small tool

26/30 · Convivial

Runs your smart home on your own hardware, with local control.

Amazon Alexa

The giant

14/30 · Mixed

A voice assistant and smart home service that runs through Amazon's cloud.

Footprint
3
2
Lock-in
5
2
Self-direction
5
2
Power
5
1
Longevity
5
3
Delivery
3
4
Price
Free
Free with a device
Source
Open source
Closed source
Runs on
Server, Android, iOS
Echo devices, iOS, Android
Maker
M · Medium
XL · Extra large

What you give up by switching

Home Assistant runs in your house, so lights and sensors keep working without a cloud, but setup takes an afternoon and voice control is less polished than Alexa's.

How to move

Start with the devices you already own that speak local protocols, and add voice later once the basics work.

Scores are our opinion on six questions from Ivan Illich, based on public sources and dated October 2026. Read the full reviews of Home Assistant and Amazon Alexa, or see how we score.

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