3 Best European Google Home Alternatives in 2026
Sovereignty-first software picks, all built in Europe — hand-picked to replace Google Home.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Our top pick this year is Home Assistant — but every option on this list is European-owned, GDPR-native, and production-ready. Worth a closer look: openHAB, Shelly.
Google Home alternatives are mainly Consumer Products. Browse any of those categories for a wider shortlist beyond this list.
-
Open-source home automation running entirely locally — control 3,500+ smart home integrations with no cloud dependency, no subscription, and no data leaving your home.
Home Assistant is the world's most popular open-source home automation platform, letting you control, automate, and monitor all your smart home devices through a single local interface — without cloud connectivity or subscriptions. With 3,500+ integrations covering everything from lights and thermostats to security cameras and energy monitoring, it runs on a Raspberry Pi or dedicated hardware inside your home.
Automations trigger on time, location, sensor state, or any combination using a visual editor or YAML. A fully customisable dashboard shows exactly what you want — room-by-room energy use, security camera feeds, or weather data. The built-in Assist voice engine processes commands locally without routing speech to external servers.
Key benefits:
- 3,500+ integrations covering virtually every smart home ecosystem and device brand
- 100% local processing — no cloud dependency, no subscription required for core use
- Visual automation editor with triggers, conditions, and multi-step action sequences
- Customisable dashboards with drag-and-drop cards for any device or sensor
- Local voice assistant (Assist) with no speech data sent to external servers
- Matter and Thread support for the latest smart home interoperability standards
- Open-source (Apache 2.0) — self-host on Raspberry Pi, VM, or dedicated hardware
Home Assistant is governed by the Open Home Foundation, a non-profit based in Switzerland, structured to ensure the platform can never be sold or shut down by a corporate acquirer. All data stays on your own hardware by default — no telemetry, no profiling, and no vendor with access to your home. Fully GDPR-compatible by architecture.
Trusted by more than one million households worldwide — ranked the top open-source project by contributors in 2025.
-
openHAB is an open-source home automation platform that unifies smart devices from hundreds of ecosystems — featuring 400+ supported technologies and 3,000+ device bindings plus a powerful rules engine for time- and event-driven automation. It runs entirely on local hardware, keeping private home data out of third-party clouds while still offering optional bridges to major voice assistants.
The platform is built on Java and Apache Karaf (OSGi), deploying cleanly on Linux, macOS, Windows, Raspberry Pi, Docker, and Synology NAS devices. A vendor-neutral architecture lets users mix Zigbee, Z-Wave, KNX, Matter, MQTT, and proprietary APIs under one interface, with optional integrations into Google Assistant, Alexa, and Apple HomeKit when cloud access is wanted.
Key benefits:
- 400+ protocol bindings covering Zigbee, Z-Wave, KNX, Matter, MQTT
- Local-first execution with no mandatory cloud dependency
- Rules engine for automations, scripts, and voice control
- Cross-platform deployment on Pi, Docker, NAS, and desktop OSes
- Vendor-neutral foundation preventing lock-in to any one brand
- Active community with 22,000+ members and 240,000+ forum posts
openHAB is stewarded by the openHAB Foundation e.V., a registered non-profit headquartered in Ober-Ramstadt, Germany, with the project originating in 2010. As 100% open source under EU governance, it is a privacy-preserving alternative to cloud-locked smart-home hubs from Google, Amazon, and Apple.
-
Bulgarian smart-home hardware with local Wi-Fi and Bluetooth relays, sensors, energy meters and plugs featuring open APIs, Matter support and Home Assistant integration.
Shelly is a Bulgarian smart-home brand producing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth relays, sensors, plugs and energy meters for residential and commercial automation. Designed and manufactured by Allterco Robotics in Sofia, Shelly devices are trusted by DIY enthusiasts, electricians and integrators worldwide for their compact form factor and open local API.
Every Shelly device exposes an HTTP and MQTT API, works without a cloud account, and integrates natively with Home Assistant, openHAB, Node-RED, Apple HomeKit (via bridges) and the Shelly Cloud app. The product family covers single-channel relays, dimmers, roller-shutter controllers, three-phase energy meters and multi-sensor devices.
Key features:
- Local HTTP and MQTT APIs that work fully offline without cloud lock-in
- Compact DIN and in-wall form factors fitting behind existing switches or in consumer units
- Home Assistant, openHAB and Node-RED integrations maintained by the community
- Energy monitoring with per-circuit kWh tracking on Shelly Pro and EM devices
- Over-the-air firmware updates via the Shelly app or local web UI
- Scripting support on Gen2 devices through embedded mJS for custom automations
- Matter support rolling out across Gen3 and Pro lines
Shelly is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, through Allterco Robotics EAD — a company listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Xetra. Devices meet EU CE, RoHS and RED directives, and the optional Shelly Cloud is hosted in the EU under GDPR.
Trusted by 3M+ users and thousands of professional installers across Europe, Shelly is the go-to choice for builders who want affordable, cloud-optional smart-home hardware.
