Anyone here move from Smartthings to Hubitat?

[Jessie.slimer]

I've been generally happy with Smartthings for several years, but have been getting a lot of system outages recently. Some are on Smartthings' end, some are on my end due to my crappy internet that is not only slow, but decides to stop working randomly for 30 minutes.

A lot of my lighting automations are done with webcore, so if the internet is down when one of those run, the action never happens, and I sometimes will not discover it until later.

I understand all processing and automations are done locally on Hubitat, so in theory it sounds like a good fit.

Can anyone here (hopefully someone with experience in both platforms) talk me into pulling the trigger? I'm likely going to have to do some learning with Hubitat, as its not as user friendly as ST, but it seems like its a much better system, no?

 

[Covert One]

I was a Wink user until they started charging a monthly fee and decided to move to another platform. I looked at both Smarthings and Hubitat as I liked the idea of local control. In the end, I decided to go with Smartthings because I have a lot of Lutron Caseta switches installed and Hubitat requires the Lutron Smart Bridge Pro whereas Smartthings only requires the Lutron Smart Bridge. There were "deals" where you could pickup the Smart Bridge and a switch for about the same price and I was wanting another switch. That is about the only reason I decided to go with Smartthings vs Hubitat. Also, I know Hubitat is a bit more technical and complex to set up but that would not have been a deterrent to me.

 

[ARAMP1]

I've been using Smartthings for a few years now and have been generally happy with it. Like you mentioned though, outages seem to be more and more regular from what I've seen. I'm thinking about switching over to Hubitat also.

 

[plannersteve]

This weekend I spent some time looking at various options to Smartthings. I'd go with Hubitat if I make the change. But for now I'm waiting to see how Samsung handles their transition. I've never experienced many outages with Smartthings. Certainly can get some insight on Smartthings community board as several power users there seem to be moving to Hubitat.

 

[Jessie.slimer]

I forgot I started this thread, so I never updated. I made the switch to Hubitat about a week after I asked here, so I've been using it for a few weeks, and let me say....it is night and freakin day. Hubitat is instant with its controls. There is zero delay from the time you activate a switch or unlock a door until it sends the command and the light, lock, etc responds. It seems to support more devices natively without having to install device handlers and workarounds like I had to do with ST. I have had no problems so far. All of my automations have been working flawless, even though my internet goes out at times.

Rules and automations are easier to set up and can do more complex routines with the on board apps. I don't even use webcore any more, although if I do, that will run on my local network too, not in the cloud. The whole system runs on my LAN. The only time it needs internet is for using the mobile app when I am not home.

Hubitat is the only hub to support the new Zwave Long Range protocol, too. Supposedly this will be a game changer for using outdoor zwave devices or putting devices in outbuildings. I'm looking forward to putting a smart lock on my barn door.

It's funny, I still get the frequent emails from smartthings telling me they are aware of some issue and are working on resolving it. I chuckle every time I read them.

If you are on the fence about switching, do it. It is so much better of a platform than smartthings.

 

[Mike A.]

I need to do the same thing. Not real happy with the way that SmartThings has been going. Can't decide what I want to move to, Hubitat, HomeSeer, HA, OpenHAB, etc... Don't really need another significant hobby so likely something more toward the former vs the latter.

 

[wtimothyholman]

I was also a Wink to Hubitat switcher. I love the Hubitat. I don't use 0.1% of its full capabilities, but the simple fact that it works quickly and reliably is all that matters to me.

 

[jshimota01]

I moved to Hubitat (HE) nearly 2 years ago - my dev work on Smartthings was always so limited and the requirements of internet was a pain. Hubitat being local vs any cloud based hub is a clear no - brainer! Once I moved all my services local - lights, motion etc were all near instantaneous. Plus I've gotten so much functionality and control - there is a learning curve and HE isn't a great user gui - it's developers make a platform that works well and they've not gone back and improved the user side much. Recent addition like package managers - and some great user community addons are making leaps and bounds in the management of display of 'dashboards'. I've got integration with weather services to pull Lux to control lights, great integration for presence detectors and the array of support of devices is ever expanding and already exceeds all other platforms I'm aware of (I admit I don't watch ST/HomeSeer/Openhab much anymore). Recently, changes occurred in HE that besides the obvious Zigbee and Zeewave support added Network devices (IP based) and although still going through growing pains I've got KASA devices, Roku's and best of all - the BlueIris interface! I run both Alexa and Google home for my voice integration but if/should my internet go down, I can still run my house - can't say that about ST! Best of all, is the speed and logging. Hands down better than Homeseer, openhab and ST. Oh. and there is hubconnect - you can integrate a ST hub ... although - why would you? I've been watching machinations of people integrating multiple HE's - it looks solid but I've not implemented - no need at this time.
I did build an RaspberryPI device and the HE was was critical in the debug - I'd tried it with ST and never succeeded.

 

[Mike]

Old thread, but figured I would post. I recently moved from SmartThings to Hubitat and am very happy so far. The fact that HE is local was the reason I switched. Everything still operating if the internet is down is worth the switch alone.

 

[Duh987]

Smartthings>hubitat>Home assistant.

Aint no going back once you experience home assistant.

 

[Jessie.slimer]

I just installed my second Hubitat hub out in my barn. The metal construction of the barn along with the long distance was too far to add devices from the house. I was able to add a 2nd hub out there and link the 2 together over my lan using their hub mesh feature. Can't do that with smartthings.

You are going to love Hubitat.

 

[ARAMP1]

Smartthings>hubitat>Home assistant.

Aint no going back once you experience home assistant.

I ended up switching everything over to Hubitat and am generally more happy with it compared to SmartThings. I ended up picking up a Home Assistant Blue ODROID N2+ that I've connected to my network but haven't set it up. Kind of dreading it LOL.

 

[Duh987]

I ended up switching everything over to Hubitat and am generally more happy with it compared to SmartThings. I ended up picking up a Home Assistant Blue ODROID N2+ that I've connected to my network but haven't set it up. Kind of dreading it LOL.

It's really not that bad, you can install the hubitat integration with hacs to play with until you commit to swapping everything for good. Some of my favorite automation are stuff I have set up for my cameras though. Makes them way more proactive since we all know that you can't constantly be watching a screen. Nothing like getting the video to pop up on my google hubs, tvs and announcements on my homes when frigate detects a person or car where they aren't supposed to be.