Why Open Beats Closed In Smart Homes

For years the market belonged to closed systems where every device only talked to devices from the same brand. That era is running out.

Home Assistant is the reason I say that. It is free, open source, and it speaks the shared protocols that let hardware from different makers work side by side.

It also picks up new things like AI features quickly, and without a monthly fee attached. That combination is hard for a closed platform to match.