In the Hubitat vs Home Assistant choice, Hubitat is the set-and-forget local hub and Home Assistant the endlessly flexible one, according to Paul Hibbert, a smart home YouTuber who moved devices to a Hubitat C-8 Pro and called it “absolutely rock solid” in a review Hubitat sponsored.
Both keep automations local. On Amazon on October 16, 2026, the Hubitat Elevation C-8 Pro was $194.95 with Zigbee, Z-Wave and Matter built in, and Home Assistant Green was $219.00 with no radios built in.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Specs Side by Side
Prices from Amazon at time of writing. I may earn a commission from links, at no cost to you.
| Hubitat Elevation C-8 Pro | Home Assistant Green | |
|---|---|---|
| Radios | Zigbee 3.0, Z-Wave 800 with Long Range, Matter, Bluetooth (listed) | None built in (add USB radios) |
| Hardware | 2x the C-8’s computing power and RAM (per Paul Hibbert) | Quad-core, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB storage (listed) |
| Subscription | No subscription required (listed) | Free; optional Nabu Casa cloud |
| Automations | Rule Machine, AI-assisted routine builder | Visual editor, YAML, community blueprints |
| Best for | Local-first users who want it to just run | Tinkerers and power users |
| Price | $194.95 | $219.00 |
| Buy | Check price | Check price |
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: reliability and range
Paul Hibbert found the C-8 Pro’s built-in radios reached devices across two buildings that his Home Assistant setup with a USB stick could not, and says his lights now all come on at exactly the same time. Hubitat says the C-8 Pro runs automations on the hub, so routines keep working without internet (listed).
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: cost and subscriptions
Hubitat lists no subscription for full functionality. Paul Hibbert notes it can expose devices to Alexa without a paid plan, while he keeps paying for Home Assistant’s Nabu Casa cloud to support development. Remember to add radio sticks to Home Assistant Green’s price.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: flexibility
Home Assistant supports the most devices and has the biggest community, according to Automate Your Life. Hubitat offers Rule Machine for multi-condition logic and an AI-assisted routine builder (listed). In an earlier comparison, Paul Hibbert said either system can take cloud-based devices and run them locally, and that a Home Assistant install on a Raspberry Pi takes about an hour with a tutorial.
Which should you buy?
- Want it to just run: Hubitat Elevation C-8 Pro.
- Want every integration: Home Assistant Green.
- Want both: Paul Hibbert runs Hubitat for radios alongside Home Assistant.
What Paul Hibbert Found With Hubitat
These points are paraphrased from the video transcripts and credited to each creator. They are the creators’ own findings and opinions, not mine.
- The C-8 Pro has twice the computing power and RAM of the C-8, he says.
- Setup of Hubitat’s new dashboard and app took him some effort, but he kept the hub as part of his network.
- He plans to move some automations to Hubitat because it has been rock solid for him.
- In his earlier Hubitat vs Home Assistant video, he framed both as the only reasonably priced ways to localize cloud devices.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Setup
In his earlier head-to-head, a Hubitat-sponsored video built around the older C-7 hub, Paul Hibbert gave Home Assistant the setup round (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”). Home Assistant found devices on his network on first boot, asked which room each was in and built a dashboard automatically. Hubitat used a wizard to add devices one at a time and needed an extra app before you could make a dashboard. He did knock Home Assistant’s menus, where adding a device was buried three levels deep, and said Hubitat’s dashboards were easier to make look good.
With the C-8 Pro, Hubitat’s new app now builds a basic dashboard from your rooms and devices automatically, and Easy Dashboards let him make a room dashboard in a few taps (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat C8 Pro Review – Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant?”). He found the new app frustrating for the first couple of days before it clicked.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Zigbee Range
Hibbert’s biggest finding came after he raised the C-8 Pro’s Zigbee transmit power in settings (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat C8 Pro Review – Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant?”). He says he got Zigbee range like he’d never seen: lights across the house came on instantly and in sync instead of one by one, as they had with his USB Zigbee stick on Home Assistant. Office lights in a separate building responded every time. That’s why he moved all his Zigbee and Z-Wave devices onto Hubitat.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Total Cost
In the older video, Hibbert priced a Raspberry Pi Home Assistant build at about £254 including a case, SSD, Zigbee dongle and Z-Wave dongle, versus about £116 delivered for a Hubitat C-7 (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”). He recommended an SSD rather than an SD card for Home Assistant. Home Assistant Green replaces the Pi, but you still add radio sticks. For remote access and Alexa or Google voice control, Home Assistant’s easy route is the paid Nabu Casa cloud; a free route exists but takes an AWS account, an Alexa skill and port forwarding, which he called “not flipping easy.”
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Automations and Integrations
- Automations: Hibbert called this round a draw; he built a Hubitat rule linking an Aqara switch to an Aqara bulb in under a minute, and found Home Assistant equally powerful (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”).
- Community drivers: both platforms accept community integrations. He added a Tado thermostat to Hubitat by pasting code from the forum.
- Gaps: Home Assistant can run Tuya Smart Life Wi-Fi devices and Broadlink IR blasters locally; Hubitat couldn’t at the time of his C-8 Pro review. His advice for Hubitat users: buy Zigbee versions of Tuya devices, which pair directly (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat C8 Pro Review – Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant?”; Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”).
- Scale: Automate Your Life says Home Assistant runs on anything from a Raspberry Pi to a big PC and can link multiple instances, so hardware is the only limit (Automate Your Life, “Home Assistant vs Homey in 2026 – The Honest Comparison”).
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Who Each Suits
Hibbert’s summary in the older video: if you’re starting out and don’t need infrared devices, Hubitat is cheaper, subscription-free and reliable, so just buy Zigbee and Z-Wave devices (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”). Home Assistant has broader compatibility and suits people who enjoy tinkering, “it’s certainly a hobby.” In the C-8 Pro review he describes the hybrid he settled on: Hubitat runs the radios and Home Assistant runs everything else through Hubitat’s integration, including his custom dashboards (Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat C8 Pro Review – Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant?”).
Video: Paul Hibbert, “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”. Embedded with credit.
Hubitat vs Home Assistant: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hubitat easier than Home Assistant?
Hubitat comes ready with radios built in. Paul Hibbert found its newer dashboard took effort to learn, so neither is fully plug-and-play.
Does Hubitat need a subscription?
Hubitat lists none for full functionality.
Does Hubitat work with Apple Home?
Hubitat lists Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit support.
Which has better Zigbee range, Hubitat or Home Assistant?
Paul Hibbert found the C-8 Pro’s built-in radio, with transmit power raised, reached a separate building that his Home Assistant USB stick setup did not.
Does Hubitat support Tuya and Broadlink?
Not locally at the time of Paul Hibbert’s review; Home Assistant does. Tuya Zigbee devices pair directly with Hubitat.
Can I use Hubitat and Home Assistant together?
Yes. Paul Hibbert uses both.
Sources
- Amazon product listings for the products linked above, from Amazon at time of writing
- Paul Hibbert: “Hubitat C8 Pro Review – Is It Time To Dump Home Assistant?”
- Paul Hibbert: “Hubitat vs Home Assistant – Best Smart Home Hub”
- Automate Your Life: “Home Assistant vs Homey in 2026 – The Honest Comparison”
Related: Home Assistant Green Review | Best Smart Home Hub | Homey Pro vs Home Assistant Green
Notes and disclosure
Note: Prices come from Amazon listings at time of writing. Prices change often, so check the current listing. Specs are the manufacturers’ listed numbers unless a reviewer is credited. Test results and opinions quoted above come from the YouTube reviewers and sites credited in each section; prices those reviewers mention are as of their videos. Both Paul Hibbert videos cited were sponsored by Hubitat, which sent the hubs. I have not tested these products myself.