Home Assistant Integrations - Connect Every Smart Home Device

Home Assistant integrations allow you to connect virtually any smart home device or cloud service to a single, local automation platform. Whether you are adding ZigBee sensors, Wi-Fi cameras, smart plugs, or lighting systems, Home Assistant provides a unified interface for control, automations, and energy monitoring.

What Are Home Assistant Integrations?

A Home Assistant integration is a bridge between your HA instance and an external device, protocol, or cloud service. Integrations are managed through the Settings menu under Devices & Services and can be added or removed without editing configuration files in most cases. As of Home Assistant 2025.1, there are over 3,000 official integrations covering everything from major consumer brands to niche industrial protocols.

Integrations fall into several categories:

• Protocol-based: ZigBee (ZHA, Zigbee2MQTT), Z-Wave, Thread/Matter, Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi local: Shelly, Tuya local, LIFX, ESPHome
• Cloud-connected: Philips Hue cloud, SmartThings, Google Home
• Hybrid: Devices supporting both local and cloud modes

Choosing the Right Integration Method

Local integrations are recommended over cloud integrations wherever possible. Local control means your automations continue working during internet outages, reduces latency to milliseconds, and keeps your data on your own network. The Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus is a reliable choice for adding local ZigBee support to any Home Assistant installation.

For devices that only support cloud APIs, Home Assistant can poll or subscribe to cloud webhooks, but reliability depends on the manufacturer's uptime. Where a local option exists, prefer it.

Popular Integration Guides

Shelly and Home Assistant

Shelly devices support local HTTP and CoAP APIs, making them one of the best choices for reliable local Home Assistant integration. The Shelly and Home Assistant Integration Guide covers device discovery, automation setup, and energy monitoring configuration.

Philips Hue Integration

Philips Hue works with Home Assistant both via the local Hue Bridge API and via Matter for newer Generation 3 bulbs. The Philips Hue Integration Guide explains how to configure the Hue integration, manage scenes, and trigger lighting automations from other devices.

TONGOU Smart Switch with Metering

TONGOU ZigBee circuit breakers bring hardware-level electrical control and real-time power metering to Home Assistant. The Connect TONGOU Switch to Home Assistant guide walks through ZigBee pairing, entity configuration, and building energy dashboards.

Getting Started with Integrations

Adding your first integration requires a working Home Assistant installation and the device or account credentials for the service you want to connect.

1. Open Settings and navigate to Devices & Services in the Home Assistant UI.
2. Click Add Integration and search by brand name or protocol.
3. Follow the on-screen configuration wizard.
4. Once added, devices appear under the integration and expose entities (sensors, switches, lights) for use in automations.

For hardware-based integrations like ZigBee or Z-Wave, you need a compatible USB adapter connected to your Home Assistant server. Home Assistant supports Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant Green, Home Assistant Yellow, and generic x86/ARM Linux hosts.

Managing and Debugging Integrations

Use the Integrations page to monitor connection status, reload integrations without restarting HA, and view logged errors. The Developer Tools > States panel shows current entity values in real time, which helps diagnose why an automation is not triggering as expected.

For zigbee mesh health, the ZHA integration provides a network visualization showing device connections and signal strength. Poor mesh coverage can be improved by adding ZigBee router devices (mains-powered plugs or switches) between the coordinator and end devices.

Home Assistant's integration ecosystem evolves quickly. Check the Home Assistant integration documentation{rel="nofollow"} for the latest supported features and configuration options for each integration.

Why Local Integrations Matter

Choosing local integrations over cloud-dependent ones significantly improves your smart home's reliability and responsiveness. When your automations run locally, they respond in milliseconds instead of the 500ms to 2-second round-trip required by cloud APIs. More importantly, local integrations keep working during internet outages - a critical advantage when automations control locks, alarms, or heating systems.

Privacy is another benefit. With local integrations, your device state data never leaves your home network. Manufacturers of cloud-integrated devices can change APIs, shut down services, or introduce subscription fees at any time. Local control eliminates this dependency entirely.

For new Home Assistant users, starting with a few well-supported local integrations builds confidence before tackling more complex cloud setups. ZigBee devices, Shelly modules, and ESPHome-flashed hardware are all excellent starting points because the communities around them are large and active, documentation is thorough, and troubleshooting resources are easy to find.