How we verify | Working Name

This site compares smart home devices on one question most reviews skip: will the device keep working on your own network, without the manufacturer's cloud, and how well does it work with Home Assistant. Every value in the tables comes from a structured record with a source. Nothing is filled in by guesswork.

The answer at the top of each page

“Does it work without the cloud?” is answered from the verified fields below, never written by hand or by AI:Yes if it can be controlled locally and needs no manufacturer cloud account or internet connection;Partly if control is local but a cloud account or internet connection is still needed for setup or normal use;Not as sold if local control needs third-party firmware; No if it can't be controlled locally.

Know before you buy

Catches a buyer usually finds out about after buying, such as a cloud login Home Assistant needs, a firmware setting that blocks local access, or extra hardware. Each one links to the source it comes from; hover the link to see the quoted text.

What each column means

Works without cloud: “No” if the device needs the manufacturer's cloud account or an internet connection for setup or normal use.
Local control: “Yes” if it can be controlled without an internet connection, over your network or a local radio protocol such as Zigbee or Thread.
Needs custom firmware: “Yes” if local control only works after replacing the stock firmware (for example with Tasmota or ESPHome).
Home Assistant integration, IoT class and quality scale: Read from the integration's manifest.json in the Home Assistant core repository. These describe the integration as a whole, not a specific model. A brand's integration can be local while a particular model isn't, which is why the columns above are verified per product.
Versions: Which of the regional versions we cover (US and EU) a model is sold in, where a source says so. Plugs and wall switches are wired for their region, so buy the version for your country.
Specs: From the manufacturer's specifications or a device database, linked on each product page.

Verification

The local-control fields are checked for each product against written sources: the Home Assistant documentation, the device lists of the libraries Home Assistant uses, and community device databases such as Zigbee2MQTT. Each product page lists the source for every value, with the text it rests on, and the date of the check. The current checks were made by an AI assistant (Claude) reading those sources and recording quotes, not by testing devices. If no source settles a value, it's left as unknown; if no source settles whether a product works without the cloud, the product isn't published. Checks older than six months are flagged for re-checking, because firmware updates and vendor policy changes can alter the answer. Automated data refreshes update prices and Home Assistant metadata only; they never overwrite a verified field. Every quoted source is also re-checked weekly: if a quote disappears, the product page says so straight away, and the product comes off the site after two weeks unless it's re-verified. If Home Assistant's metadata stops agreeing with a verified claim, the product is taken off the site until it's re-checked.

“—” or “Unknown” in a table means a value hasn't been verified yet. It doesn't mean the product lacks the feature.

Lists and ordering

Every list is built by fixed criteria shown at the top of the list, applied to the data. Products are ordered by Home Assistant integration quality scale, then by IoT class (local push before local polling), then by name. We don't rank by opinion and we haven't hands-on tested these devices.

Written introductions

Short introductions on some pages are drafted by an AI model. The model can't state facts in its own words: every product name, number and capability in that text is inserted from the same verified data as the tables, and an automated check blocks publication of any text that states a fact outside that data.

Prices

Prices are shown per market (US in US dollars, EU in euros), each with the store and the date it was checked. We don't convert currencies or compare prices across markets. Prices older than a week are hidden rather than shown stale. We don't show “sale” or discount claims.

Affiliate links

This site has no affiliate links and earns nothing from the products listed. If that changes, pages with affiliate links will say so at the top, and commissions won't affect which products are listed or their order.