Whether you're looking to upgrade an existing hub or build a smart home, at the centre of your automation system will sit a Z-Wave hub. It's the key component to any automation system for two reasons:
- it's what your automation devices communicate with, and
- its powers the apps and interfaces you'll use to manage your smart home, its schedules and its automations.
It's so integral that you have to get pick the right hub for your home. Which means you want the best. But there isn't a single best Z-Wave hub available on the market: there are degrees of features, complexity, and price. Some hubs cost less than $100, some cost more than a $1000. So which to choose?
With more than 17 years' experience in designing, building, and deploying smart homes, we know that we're in a great position to provide insight into the best Z-Wave hub available which could meet your needs. In the guide that follows, we're going to look at the most important factors: value for money, features, available technical support, compatibility, upgrade-ability, and usability. We'll blend these into simple conclusions to help you decide which is the best Z-Wave hub for your home.
Top picks for a Z-Wave hub
TL:DR? This is the short and narrow on the best Z-Wave hubs and who they're best for.
Best future proof
Atrim Stick. Cheapest to get started, great compatibility with 800 series Z-Wave, great privacy without any cloud processing requirement. |
Best simplest
SmartThings. Backed by Samsung, offers compatibility with Matter and Zigbee as well, but limited lifespan as it is 500 series Z-Wave. |
Scroll down or follow these links to see why we recommend each platform in greater detail.
Most important features in a Z-Wave hub
- Device compatibility: you want the device compatibility to be broad. If you're buying a Z-Wave hub, you've already achieved the first step to that as there are thousands of Z-Wave devices available to use to build your smart home. However, not all gateways support them equally which can lead to incompatibility. You'll also want to be able use non Z-Wave devices, whether that's from alternative standards such as Zigbee or Matter, or voice controllers such as Alexa or Google Home.
- Number of devices you can connect: the standard version of Z-Wave Plus allows for 232 separate Z-Wave products to be connected to a hub, but some hubs are under-powered and can connect far fewer devices - we've seen some hubs only able to support 10 devices at most.
- Security devices: a hub should support non Z-Wave based security devices such as video cameras and video doorbells.
- Future proof: whether you're installing everything at once or upgrading your home's smarts bit at a time, you'll want your smart home technology to last for as long as you live in the home. Sadly, not all hubs offer proper future-proofing.
- Easy to use: while smart homes are all about intelligent automation, in nearly all smart home installations a degree of manual control and interaction is required. That's often from an app or browser interface. It's also common that the installer (you're probably the one reading this best-of guide) isn't always the person using the app or UI. So it has to be good and it has to have great usability.
- Privacy and security: your automation system, and what takes place in your home, should always remain private and secure. That's paramount and non-optional to us.
- Local processing: Z-Wave hubs whose processing takes place exclusively in the cloud are a non-starter for us. Any cloud-dependent hub has 2 major issues: if your internet connection goes down, your smart home stops working - similarly if the provider's cloud goes down, so does your smart home. There's also a third and fourth risk. If the provider stops their service (many smart home hub makers have closed down or stopped providing services) then your smart home will stop working altogether. And, finally, if the hub maker devices to start charging a monthly subscription (Insteon did this for instance) you're stuck between having no smart home or suddenly paying for something which was previously free. We've weighted this very big risk into our recommendations below.
What about the best Z-Wave gateway? The best Z-Wave controller?
Before we get fully in to it, let's address a common question: what about the best Z-Wave gateway? What about the Z-Wave controller?
To answer either of those we have to clarify one simple point: what's the difference between a hub, a controller, a gateway? Effectively, nothing. These are terms used interchangeably. Some people call the controller at the heart of their smart home a hub, others a controller or a gateway, others still a bridge. While technical experts my argue there are some slight differences between each one, for our purposes (and yours) they're all one and the same. Don't worry the nomenclature, just worry about which is best for you.
Best future proof Z-Wave hub
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Atrim Stick with Home AssistantBest for:
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If you're reading this article then there's a strong chance you're taking the DIY approach to setting up a smart home. If so, Atrim Stick and Home Assistant are likely the best combination of hardware / software for you. Atrim Stick is a 800 series, Z-Wave Plus antenna designed like a USB stick, and Home Assistant is hugely powerful, free and open-source automation software. They can be installed together on any existing Mac, Windows, or Linux PC that you have, or you can also use the likes of a Raspberry Pi. Installation is straightforward and you'll have a full Z-Wave hub once setup. You'll also be able to expand the hub to be compatible with other technologies, such as HomeKit. All told, using Atrim Stick and Home Assistant as your Z-Wave hub gives you compatibility with an estimated 100,000 smart devices and third party services.
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Best value Z-Wave hub
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SmartThings (Samsung / Aeotec Smart Home Hub)Best for:
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If you're looking for something of a brand name then it's impossible to not at least Samsung's SmartThings platform. Though they no longer make the hardware (it's now known as Aeotec Smart Home Hub), SmartThings remains a major player for home automation hubs. Though it's the most expensive recommendation we have here, compared to other brand-name systems, it certainly remains cheap. Compatibility includes all the automation standards you're ever likely to want to use, including the elusive Matter, and compatibility with some 5,000 automation devices is respectable. SmartThings doesn't have the best interface, but it's reliable, well-used, and well-backed. Overall, it's a good product at a good price, and gets our value recommendation.
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Best value hub: runner up
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Athom Homey BridgeBest for:
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There's a very strong contender against the SmartThings hub, indeed a lot of people prefer its newer aesthetics and price point, but it has one key detractor. Homey Bridge is compatible with over 50,000 devices from more than 1,000 different brands, and it features compatibility with Z-Wave Plus, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared. It also is compatible with 433MHz outside of North America. Do note that the extensive list of compatibility does not include HomeKit. Homey Bridge is also excellently priced and is one of the cheapest, quality Z-Wave hubs available. So what's the detractor? Its cheap price and high quality come at the cost of a monthly subscription. It's relatively inexpensive at only $2.99 a month, however, you always face the risk that it goes up in the future. Some people will see a good trade-off here: there's nothing wrong with supporting the ongoing development of a hub provided the makers are upfront about subscription costs - and Homey certainly are.
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