Link: https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/10/02/big-tech-ruined-the-cloud-so-were-renaming-ours/

Comments

What a giant waste of resources...

TL;DR Home Assistant Cloud is now Home Assistant Link

I have no idea what it was, but home assstant is anything but 'no lock-in' they have a very narrow idea of what you should and shouldn't do with it, how and why. Essentially you are (or were didn't have time lately to check) locked to home assistant os.

Lock in is more about open standards and protocols then it is about an opinionated implementation. Yes there is not simple "export to whatever" and an alternative service that dies an "import from home assistant"

But you cannot blame a service for not having any valid alternative or other options.

Its either 20 different vendor logins and apps or home assistant.

That's not what lock-in typically means.

Good move and well substantiated.

Let people have fun!

HAC has problematic connotations, so we renamed it to HAL, which is 9000 times better.

"I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I can't do that"

I used to have an app (and a login account to their cloud server) for my: 1) MyQ Garage Door Opener; 2) TP-Link smart plugs, switches, and bulbs; 3) Reolink AI cameras (I have 6 of them); 4) Insteon plugs and switches; 5) The Weather Channel; etc.... Now, I have Home Assistant to manage those devices that I deleted my account from the respective cloud servers and deleted the respective apps from my mobile deives.

When I'm out and about, my iPhone is always connected to my home VPN gateway so I always have local control of my IoT devices at home with Home Assistant companion app on my iPhone. I have been with Home Assistant for 4 years now. I started with a Raspberry Pi 4B with 8Gig memory and HAOS in a mcroSD card. Now I'm on RPi5 with HA on SSD in a USB-3 enclosure.

Long Live Home Assistant.

As others said, not lock in. But they certainly make some very questionable UX decisions. I wish there was a good replacement, but there isn't, at least none that I am aware of.

I'm sure the 5 seconds spent changing some text strings on their branding will be sorely missed

Someone tell OpenAI, this strategy might save their ass.

"You're absolutely right. Thank you for pushing back."

Essentially you are (or were didn’t have time lately to check) locked to home assistant os.

Since when? I use it frequently in my house. The possibilities are damn near endless, you have the freedom to do damn near whatever the fuck you want with it.

The problems come with shitty vendor integrations that intentionally gimp functionality when the devices aren't used in whatever "official" app the vendor ships. That's not HA's fault, tha's squarely on the vendor for doing shit in bad faith to steer low-IQ customers (like you, apparently) to the "official" app.

That's not what lock-in means at all.

You're right, you have no idea what it is.

Me, I don't have "shitty vendor integration"! I deleted all apps to control/access respective vendor devices. I have HA to manage and control the variety of vendor devices in my home.

There's always OpenHAB

You can make your own dashboard, I think it's called Lovelace or something like that. Then you can pretty much design it how you want

Yes because it definitely only took 5 seconds...

Not stopping anyone.

Same here. I've got all but one or two vendor integrations left, and I just flat out refuse to buy smart home stuff that isn't wholly supported by HA.

You're "locked in" because it is super versatile and accepts a ultra wide variety of devices and plug-ins that can do pretty much anything one can imagine as a tiny or big project for their home.

Or does it sound better if you "lock in" with Amazon and buy only what they produce, stay in their environment and do only things they designed you can do with the devices they sell?

Genuinely.

I'm not sure why people are saying this is a waste of time and it's just a name, because the truth is, names matter!.

"Cloud" and all the associated vendor lock-in and data-selling etc is exactly what most people using HA are trying to escape from, and so Home Assistant 'Cloud' gave completely the wrong impression.

I think you mean OpenSI

Can't even play Doom on it, those bastards

Synthetic Intelligence?

You mean ClosedSI

From ever-increasing subscription prices to outages and data harvesting: we don’t like what the cloud has come to represent. So we’re redefining what an online service should be: private, optional, and free from lock-in or walled gardens.

That’s why today Nabu Casa is renaming Home Assistant Cloud to more accurately describe what the service actually does, and to better reflect our values. Allow us to introduce:

Home assistant link

You don't have to use HAOS. You absolutely can just run HA in a container.

That old degenerate, trump, is starting a new "renaming" trend. This is not "rebranding" which trump didn't invent, but "renaming" which trump came up with all on his own. And in this guy's case, out of a pile of shit, eventually grew a rose.

Home Assistant Link is a bit too long to type out. We should call it HAL instead. HAL will never turn on its creators.

Actually... https://github.com/frenck/home-assistant-doom

Official container, I know.

You're not doing a good job of communicating what your issue is. None of this makes sense.

HAL, open the microwave door. Open the microwave door, HAL.

...HAL? HAL!!!!

He come to town. Come to save, the printer's samba.

ohhh. the burn. love it.

Haven't heard the news? Trump and US Government have "officially" changed the name for the whole world. He decided it's "Super Intelligence" now.

Really? I used to play Doom on a MS-DOS PC circa 1994 or '95.

Still one step ahead of IBM!

That's the way to go. And, local integration, which does not depend on cloud account for HA to control. The only integration I have that needs a cloud account is the integration for my car - it still depends on the cloud server to expose the differenct entities for my car's status and functions (close/open doors, start engine with climate control, etc.).

He's coaching you on your mindset, not claiming you're physically preventing something.

I am in no way preventing anything, physically or otherwise. If changing names is your idea of fun, have at it. But the project will suffer as a result.

"Unlock the front door, HAL."

HAL: "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Ah...yeah...now that you mention it...

I really, really hope this sh*t doesn't stick

sorry grandpa you're lost, bluesky and facebook are that way

The comparison table is the useful part, because "optional and replaceable" is something you can actually check. Remote access works without the subscription through your own reverse proxy, a VPN like WireGuard/Tailscale, or a tunnel, and the Alexa/Google voice integrations can be set up manually, just with more steps. So the no-lock-in claim holds for the service itself.

The rename seems mostly aimed at the confusion they mention, where new users thought "Home Assistant Cloud" meant running Home Assistant in the cloud. Fair enough given how many people ask exactly that.

Why?