What Is The Best Zigbee Hub? Discover The Comparison

Home Assistant, Sonoff, Aqara, Tuya, Homey… Find out which Zigbee hub is best for your smart home project.

Index

What’s the point of this comparison of Zigbee hubs?

When you want to create your smart home, it’s often more practical to buy wireless devices that communicate by radio frequency. We’re all familiar with WIFI and Bluetooth, but for a more efficient project, Zigbee technology is often the best compromise.

But if you have Zigbee devices, you have to use a Zigbee hub and you should ALWAYS check compatibility before making any purchase.

	Home Assistant Green	Jeedom Luna	Homey	Aqara Hub M3	Sonoff ZBBRIDGE-U	Moes ZHUB Tuya
GENERAL INFORMATION
Brand	Nabu Casa	Jeedom	Athom	Aqara	Sonoff	Moes
Country	🇺🇸	🇫🇷	🇳🇱	🇨🇳	🇨🇳	🇨🇳
Price	148,99€ (109€ + 39,99€)	199€	399€	129.99€	71.99€	33.99€
Shop	BUY NOW	BUY NOW	BUY NOW	BUY NOW	BUY NOW	BUY NOW
Additional Zigbee dongle	BUY NOW	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included
Subscription required	No	No	No	No	No	No
Subscription Premium	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Easy to use	⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
TECHNOLOGIES
Zigbee Standard	In option	✅	✅	✅ (Aqara devices only)	✅ (Sonoff devices only)	❌
Zigbee Tuya	In option	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅
Thread	In option	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌
Matter	In option	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌
Z-Wave+	In option	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
EnOcean	In option	In option	❌	❌	❌	❌
KNX	In option	In option	In option	❌	❌	❌
Somfy RTS	In option	In option	In option	❌	❌	❌
Somfy io Homecontrol	In option	In option	❌	❌	❌	❌
X2D Delta Dore	In option	In option	❌	❌	❌	❌
Chacon/DiO 1.0	In option	In option	✅	❌	❌	❌
433 MHz	In option	In option	✅	❌	❌	❌
Infrared	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Network connection	Wifi / Ethernet	Wifi / Ethernet	Wifi	Wifi / Ethernet	Wifi / Ethernet	Wifi
USB Ports	2x USB	1x USB	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bluetooth	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Emergency battery	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Consumption	3W	2W	2W	No information	No information	No information
EVOLUTIVITY
USB Extensions	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Functions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Updates	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Local API	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Cloud API	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
VOICE ASSISTANTS
Amazon Alexa	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Google Home	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Homekit	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
USER INTERFACE
Local use	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Interface ergonomics	⭐	⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Personalization	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Android/iOS apps	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Frequently asked questions when choosing a Zigbee hub

Why isn‘t a Zigbee device compatible with my Zigbee hub?

Although your Zigbee hub and your Zigbee device speak the same language, integration by developers is always necessary.

And you should realise that companies like Sonoff and Aqara sell Zigbee devices from their own brands, so they have designed Zigbee hubs for their ecosystems, so you should NEVER buy a Zigbee device from another brand in this case.

For a Tuya Zigbee hub, you have more flexibility, as you can buy any Zigbee device from different brands, BUT if they are from the Tuya ecosystem. In other words, you need to check that your Zigbee device is from the Tuya ecosystem in order to use it with your Tuya Zigbee hub.

Homey Pro is an interesting bet with many integrations of popular Zigbee devices on the market (Sonoff, Aqara, NodOn and more), but you also need to check compatibility.

For Jeedom and Home Assistant, these are companies that have designed advanced universal hubs, meaning they have almost 100 per cent of the Zigbee devices on the market compatible. To do this, you should use Zigbee2Mqtt and always check that your Zigbee device is integrated and has the latest version of this platform.

Are all Zigbee hubs universal?

NO. That’s why many users make the mistake of thinking that when they buy a Zigbee device, they can use it with their Zigbee hub.

Jeedom and Home Assistant are universal open source hubs with a large compatibility list.

What is the best Zigbee hub?

It depends.

If you have a few devices, all Sonoff, you can use a Sonoff hub.
If you have a few devices, all from Aqara, you can use an Aqara hub.
If you have a few devices, all from the Tuya ecosystem (Moes, Loratap, Lidl, Nous Smart, etc.), you can use a Tuya hub.
If you have devices from Sonoff, Aqara, NodOn and other brands, you can use a Homey hub.

These are solutions for novice users and I recommend them so as not to complicate your life.

If you’re an advanced user (i.e. you have the time and computer skills) and want to mix all kinds of Zigbee devices, regardless of brand, you can use a Home Assistant or Jeedom hub.

Can Zigbee devices work without the Internet?

Yes, it actually depends on your Zigbee hub.

In other words, if your Zigbee hub doesn’t need the Internet to work, you can control your Zigbee devices and create automations that will work even if you have an Internet outage.

How many Zigbee devices can I connect to my Zigbee hub?

It depends on the capabilities of your Zigbee hub.

In theory, a Zigbee node can manage 255 Zigbee devices.

A Zigbee node can be a coordinator (Zigbee hub) or a router (Zigbee lamp, Zigbee socket, Zigbee module, etc.).

So, in a network, you can have up to 65,000 Zigbee devices… in theory.

But in practice, it’s reasonable to have 50-150 Zigbee devices, given the resource constraints.

Why use a Zigbee hub instead of WIFI?

If you want to use 1 to 5 smart devices, it might be worth using WIFI technology from brands like Shelly, as it’s cheap and you don’t need a Zigbee hub to connect the devices directly to your WIFI network.

But if you want to use 10, 15, 20 or more smart devices, I recommend Zigbee devices.

You’ll need to buy a Zigbee hub, which is an additional cost, but you’ll have an independent home automation network so as not to saturate this WIFI network with signal repeats and much more.

Bruno

Graduated with a Higher Technician’s Certificate in Home Automation, a Professional Bachelor’s degree in E-commerce and Digital Marketing, and a Master’s degree in SEO, I have been working since 2013 in a home automation e-commerce company called Domadoo, where I have the opportunity to test a large number of the popular Smart Home products on the market.