Home Assistant Renames Its Cloud Service to ‘Link,’ Citing Big Tech’s Damage to Cloud Trust
The $6.50/month service still runs on users’ local hardware, addressing confusion that Home Assistant operates in the cloud. Features remain unchanged, while 60% of its profits support the Open Home Foundation.
Home Assistant announced in October 2026 that it is renaming its Home Assistant Cloud service to Home Assistant Link. Founder Paulus Schoutsen made the announcement following an interview with The Verge at the Z-Wave Summit in Boca Raton, Florida. “We are renaming Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link, because we hate clouds,” Schoutsen said. “Big tech ruined the cloud, so we’re out.”
The rename is largely symbolic — the service’s features remain the same, with some back-end improvements to speed and reliability. Schoutsen said the old name caused confusion among new users who assumed Home Assistant ran in the cloud, when in fact the platform runs on local hardware. For $6.50 a month, Home Assistant Link provides remote access, Alexa and Google voice control integration, speech-to-text, and encrypted backups.
Link is operated by Nabu Casa, Home Assistant’s commercial partner. Schoutsen emphasized that all traffic is encrypted and Nabu Casa cannot access user data. “You don’t have to trust me not to misuse your data because I just don’t have your data,” he said. Sixty percent of Link’s profits go to the Open Home Foundation, the non-profit that runs Home Assistant.
Beyond the rename, Schoutsen outlined plans to make Home Assistant more accessible to mainstream users. The platform is currently installed in an estimated 2.7 million homes — a fraction of the reach of Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Apple Home. Planned changes include simpler dashboards, a more user-friendly successor to the Home Assistant Green hub, and integration of the HACS community store next month. Schoutsen also pointed to generative AI as a tool for reducing setup complexity.
The company is also developing a “No Device Left Behind” program to help users connect older analog and legacy devices — such as receivers, AC units, and solar panel inverters — to the platform. Schoutsen cited cloud dependency as a growing consumer problem, pointing to Nest disabling cloud support for early thermostats and the June Oven losing server support as examples of products that stopped functioning when cloud services ended.