Alternatives / Google Assistant
Looking for an open source Google Assistant alternative? We compared 2 open source smart home platforms by license, device support, voice, and remote access. They control your home locally, and neither is a general-purpose assistant that answers questions like Google Assistant.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Most complete smart home platform with a voice assistant | Apache-2.0 |
| Gladys Assistant | Simpler, privacy-first smart home (remote access is paid) | Apache-2.0 |
We looked for open-source tools that replace the smart home side of Google Assistant: controlling lights, sensors, and devices, running automations, and responding to voice commands. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. Neither includes the question-answering and Google services of a general assistant. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Home Assistant and Gladys Assistant control devices and automations. They do not answer general knowledge questions, manage your calendar and email, or play media like Google Assistant does, so you may add a separate AI assistant for that.
Home Assistant is the closest: it supports over 1,000 device types, local control, automations, custom dashboards, and a built-in voice assistant. It is best suited to technically comfortable users.
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, self-hosted smart home 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, while the local experience is free.
Home Assistant and Gladys Assistant are both Apache-2.0.
Both projects had commits within days of this update, and Home Assistant has a very large community with about 91,000 stars.
Google Assistant is a proprietary cloud service that sends voice commands to Google, depends on its servers staying available, and has been reduced or replaced by newer Google products. Open-source smart home platforms let you control devices locally, keep voice and sensor data private, and avoid depending on a vendor's cloud, at the cost of more setup and fewer general knowledge features.
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.
Pricing: Free and open source; Home Assistant Cloud is an optional paid subscription.
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.
Pricing: Free for local use; Gladys Plus adds paid remote access.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Smart home platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Advanced home automation |
| Gladys Assistant | Smart home platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Simple private setups |
Want the most capable open-source smart home
Home Assistant supports 1,000+ device types with local control, automations, dashboards, and a built-in voice assistant.
Want a simpler, privacy-first setup
Gladys runs locally with Zigbee, Matter, and MQTT support and no-code automation, with paid remote access.