Important: they replace home control, not skills
Home Assistant and Gladys Assistant control devices and automations. They do not offer Alexa's shopping, music services, and thousands of skills, so you may keep a separate service for those.
Alternatives / Amazon Alexa
2 open-source alternatives
2 Best Open Source Amazon Alexa Alternatives in 2026
Looking for an open source Amazon Alexa alternative? We compared 2 open source smart home platforms by license, device support, voice, and remote access. They control your home locally, but neither is a general assistant that plays music, orders products, or answers questions like Alexa.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
Best Amazon Alexa alternatives at a glance
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Most complete platform with local voice | Apache-2.0 |
| Gladys Assistant | Simpler, privacy-first setup | Apache-2.0 |
How we chose these Amazon Alexa alternatives
We looked for open-source tools that replace Alexa's smart home side: controlling devices, running automations, and responding to voice commands. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Closest to Alexa
Home Assistant supports over 1,000 device types with local control, automations, custom dashboards, a built-in voice assistant, and official iOS and Android apps. It has the largest add-on ecosystem.
Simpler setups
Gladys Assistant runs locally with Docker, supports Zigbee, Matter, and MQTT, and offers no-code scenes and voice control. Secure remote access needs the optional paid Gladys Plus subscription or your own VPN.
License details
Home Assistant and Gladys Assistant are both Apache-2.0.
Maintenance status
Both had commits within days of this update, and Home Assistant has over 91,000 stars.
Why look for a Amazon Alexa alternative?
Alexa is a proprietary cloud service that processes voice commands on Amazon's servers and depends on Amazon's device ecosystem and policies. Open-source smart home platforms control devices locally, keep voice and sensor data private, and avoid vendor lock-in, at the cost of more setup and fewer consumer skills.
home-assistant.io
Home Assistant is an Apache-2.0 open-source home automation platform that supports over 1,000 device types, with local control, automations, custom dashboards, and a built-in voice assistant. It is best suited to technically comfortable users and does not provide general question answering.
91.6K38.9KApache-2.0Self-hosted
Pricing: Free and open source; Home Assistant Cloud is an optional paid subscription.
- Huge device support and community
- Local control and powerful automations
- Built-in voice assistant
- Steeper learning curve
- Not a general-knowledge assistant
gladysassistant.com
Gladys Assistant is an Apache-2.0, privacy-first, self-hosted home automation platform that runs locally, supports Zigbee, Matter, and MQTT, and allows automation without coding. It installs with Docker on Linux hardware. Secure remote access needs the optional paid Gladys Plus subscription or your own VPN.
3.2K328Apache-2.0Self-hosted
Pricing: Free for local use; Gladys Plus adds paid remote access.
- Simple and privacy-first
- Zigbee, Matter, and MQTT support
- No-code automations
- Remote access is a paid add-on
- Fewer devices and options than Home Assistant
Compare Amazon Alexa alternatives
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Smart home platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Advanced users |
| Gladys Assistant | Smart home platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Easy private setups |
Which one should you choose?
Want the most capable open-source smart home
Home Assistant supports 1,000+ device types, automations, and a built-in voice assistant.
Want an easier privacy-first setup
Gladys is simpler and opinionated, with paid remote access as an option.