One of the things I love most about modern home automation is choice. If I want a simple system that requires little to no work on my part, I can invest in something like Google Home or Amazon Alexa. If I want to custom-build something from scratch, I can do that too. And there are all sorts of options occupying the space in between.
The dividing line for so many home automation enthusiasts is local vs. cloud hosting. Home automation works exactly the same regardless of where software is hosted and run. The big difference with cloud and local systems lies in data access and control.
Do you know the difference between local and cloud-based home automation? It’s big.
Cloud-Based Home Automation
Let’s start with cloud-based home automation, given that it’s the model most people are familiar with. A cloud-based scenario combines hardware devices in your home with software hosted in the cloud. The cloud-based software does all the actual work. Your devices send data to the cloud where it’s processed and converted to instructions. The instructions are then sent back to your devices. It all happens over the internet.
Google Home and Amazon Alexa are both cloud-based systems. Cloud servers located in faraway places have access to, and store, customer data. Every routine a customer creates goes to the cloud; every device a customer adds to his system is registered in the cloud.
Other well-known brands are cloud-based. They include Vivint Home Security, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, and on and on. Even individual devices from brands like T-Link and Ring, devices you control via apps on your smartphone, rely on the cloud.
Local Home Automation
The thing that makes local home automation different is that no data leaves your house. You set up the system on a laptop, raspberry pi, or even an old cell phone. The devices in your system communicate with your control device and your control device only. Unless you tell your system to, it never goes out to the internet to fetch information, receive instructions, or store data in the cloud.
The two most popular systems for local home automation are Home Assistant and OpenHAB. The OpenHAB website says on its home page that cloud access is not required but is still an option for those who want it.
With both Home Assistant and OpenHAB, you can confine all the activity to your local network. If you want to control your system remotely, there are ways to do it without sending data to the cloud. You can even restrict what types of activities the system can do online. That way, you can control all internet traffic in both directions.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Cloud
Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. Again, let us start with the cloud. Its chief advantage is plenty of help and support from name-brand ecosystems. I will use Vivint here as an example.
Everything you would get in a Vivint home automation system would work out of the box. This includes security cameras, motion sensors, a smart thermostat, smart locks, smart lighting, and so forth. Vivint also provides professional installation and full customer support.
Vivint supplies its own smart home hub. Technicians teach customers how to use the hub. If a customer has questions later on, customer support is always willing to help.
Choose a brand like Google or Amazon and you’ll enjoy even more advantages:
- Support for hundreds of devices
- Regular upgrades
- Full voice integration
- A ton of community support
I’ll be honest. Cloud-based home automation is pretty attractive. If you’re not tech savvy and you really don’t know how to set up routines, a simplified cloud-based system is probably your best option. But cloud-based home automation does have disadvantages.
The Disadvantages
The most profound disadvantage is surrendering even more data and control to your provider. It’s less of a problem if you’re dealing with a company like Vivint. But if you opt for the Google or Amazon ecosystems, you are feeding them data they will use to fuel their own business models. In essence, you end your data to become the product those two companies sell to their enterprise customers.
Other disadvantages include:
- Security concerns
- Dropped support for third-party devices
- Vendor lock-in for new devices
Making cloud-based home automation work requires going all in. You need to commit to an ecosystem and its way of doing things or you will find yourself stuck.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Local
Moving back to local home automation, its biggest advantage is privacy. Not allowing any data to leave your local network is a big deal to some people. It chose local for that very reason. I maintain total control of my system at all times.
A second advantage that lines up with it is that I know my system will always work. Even if a third-party manufacturer stops supporting one of my devices, the device will continue working within my environment. I am not depending on their cloud and their support. All I have to do is keep a backup instance on my computer and I know my system will always work.
On the downside, local home automation does require considerably more work. It is not dumbed down to make it easy to use. Building a system from scratch requires learning, trying new things, and even failing here and there.
The other big downside is that you need to be careful about the devices you choose. The two platforms I mentioned earlier don’t support every device on the market. So if you don’t pay attention, you could end up buying devices you ultimately discover don’t work.
You Get to Choose
Today’s home automation is a lot more advanced than what we had a decade ago. The best part of all is that you get to choose how you want to use it. For me, local is better. You might prefer a cloud-based ecosystem. Now that you know the difference, you can make a smarter choice.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.