Homey Bridge vs Homey Pro
Both Homey Pro and Homey Bridge are universal smart home hubs. they look quite similar, and include many of the same technologies and features. They also share the same apps for mobile and web, and integrations like Google Home, Alexa and Siri Shortcuts. They are, however, not the same. That begins with a stark difference in pricing: Homey Pro retails for 399 Euros / Dollars, while Homey Bridge sells at 69 Euros / Dollars instead. Allow us to explain the most important differences between our two hubs.
Homey Product lines.
As you can see from our table, in the basis we have two distinct 'product lines': Homey, which is available as freemium service, and Homey Pro. Our Homey service is free to join and get started with. From there, you can connect cloud-connected devices to it, like a Philips Hue system, Nest thermostat or Roomba. You can connect up to 5 devices to Homey for free – after that you need Homey Premium, available at € / $ 2.99 per month.
You can extend the Homey service with Homey Bridge. Homey Bridge adds support for multiple wireless technologies. The rest stays the same: still, you can add up to 5 devices for free. To add more, a Homey Premium subscription is necessary.
Homey Pro, however, is a different product line. It does not make use of the same, cloud-based Homey service. As such, there's no Homey Premium available. Homey Pro uses the same apps and interfaces, but under the hood works differently from Homey / Homey Bridge, hence the different pricing and subscriptions.
Hardware pricing, local vs cloud
The price difference between Homey Pro and Homey Bridge is due to the fact that Homey Pro houses very powerful hardware, capable of running the entire Homey operating system and all Homey apps locally on the device. This means that Homey Pro is as internet-independent as it could be: it continues to operate when the internet is down, can be back-upped locally and can connect to local LAN devices. Homey Bridge, on the other hand, simply extends the online Homey service. It's dependent on your internet connection.
Because Homey Pro processes everything locally, it does not need a subscription. Homey Premium does not apply to Homey Pro. An unlimited number of devices can be connected to Homey Pro without any additional costs. There is a completely optional cloud back-up service available for 99 cents, but Homey Pro can also be back-upped locally to your Mac or PC for free.
Communication technologies
Homey Pro features newer upgrades in chipsets and technologies. It contains 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, a new Silicon Labs ‘Gecko’ Zigbee 3.0 chip and the Z-Wave 700 Series chipset, all significant upgrades compared to the previous generation Homey Pro or Homey Bridge.
Next to that, the new Homey Pro adds support for Matter (currently) and Thread (coming Q3 2023). It can also be connected to Ethernet with our optional USB-C to Ethernet adapter (€29).
App availability
Like its predecessor, the new Homey Pro is able to run official Homey Apps as well as community-built ones, resulting in a huge range of supported devices.
How to choose
Choosing between Homey Pro and Homey Bridge might seem hard. They are somewhat the same, but also distinctly different. Let us help you.
If you want to go all-out on smart home, including solar panels, energy management and possibly and EV, Homey Pro is the best option for you. You will benefit from the local operation, the community apps, and the LAN API support. As your whole setup is probably running into the numbers, the price of Homey Pro compared to your whole setup is also relatively small.
Instead, if you are more interested in simply having some cool sensors and products work together, you can probably start best with Homey Bridge. It features multiple wireless protocols like Z-Wave and Zigbee. We recommend checking out the Homey App Store to see what products are supported.
Not into sensors yet? Do you mostly just want to control your smart home in a single place? Curious to what Homey has to offer, but not convinced yet? We'd recommend to simply get the Homey app from the iOS/Android app store. It's free to install, and free to start with! You can see what Homey can do, and how it works for you. Afterwards, you can easily expand with Homey Bridge, or upgrade to Homey Pro.
