Home Assistant Cloud Alternative: SmartHomeEntry vs Nabu Casa (2026)
A reverse SSH tunnel instead of a cloud proxy. Works with HA, Domoticz, Jellyfin, Nextcloud (Nabu Casa only with HA). Home plan: $7/mo for 1 service, Nabu Casa: about $6.50/mo for HA. An honest comparison and a step-by-step migration.
SmartHomeEntry vs Nabu Casa - the facts
| SmartHomeEntry | Nabu Casa | |
|---|---|---|
| Supported services | HA, Domoticz, OpenHAB, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, NAS, Grafana, any HTTP/HTTPS | Home Assistant only |
| URL format | your-home-3a1f9c8b2e4d.smarthomeentry.com (permanent, for each service) | xxxxxxxx.ui.nabu.casa (permanent, random string) |
| Monthly price | $7 (1 service) / $24 (5) / $60 (20) | ~$6.50 (1 HA installation) |
| One-time access | Yes - $5/$12/$25 for 7/30/90 days | No - subscription only |
| Agent | Open-source (GitHub) | Closed-source cloud proxy |
| Data location | EU (OVH Warsaw) | Multi-region (per Google Cloud) |
5 reasons to consider SmartHomeEntry
Works with more than just HA
Running Home Assistant + Domoticz + Jellyfin + Nextcloud on the same server? Nabu Casa only handles HA. SmartHomeEntry tunnels any HTTP/HTTPS service: HA, Domoticz, openHAB, Jellyfin, Plex, Nextcloud, NAS, Grafana, Node-RED. Each service gets its own subdomain: the Home plan covers one, Pro ($24/mo) up to five - so HA + Jellyfin + Nextcloud means the Pro plan.
An address for every service, not just HA
Nabu Casa gives you a permanent but random address `xxxxxxxx.ui.nabu.casa` - and only for Home Assistant. SmartHomeEntry gives you `your-home-3a1f9c8b2e4d.smarthomeentry.com` with HTTPS for every tunnelled service, the same after every restart. Save it once as a bookmark or in the app and share the same link with your family.
One-time access for a trip
Need remote access only when travelling? Buy one-time access: $5 for 7 days or $12 for 30 days, no subscription. Month for month: Nabu Casa about $6.50, our subscription $7. One-time access pays off for rare, short trips; for constant use the subscription is cheaper. Nabu Casa offers a subscription only.
Open-source agent
The agent's code is public on GitHub. Check what it sends, compile it yourself if you want, audit it. Nabu Casa is a closed cloud proxy - you take their word for it.
Installer plans (multi-client)
Pro (5 services / $24) and Business (20 / $60) let you manage many clients from one panel, with alerts, and on Business also availability report PDFs. Nabu Casa = 1 account = 1 home. For a smart home installer that's a deal-breaker.
3 situations where Nabu Casa is the better choice
You want Google Assistant / Alexa cloud
Nabu Casa has built-in Google Assistant and Alexa Cloud integration. You say "OK Google, turn on the living room lights" and it works without additional config. SmartHomeEntry doesn't do that - we're a tunnel, not a voice-assistant bridge.
You want to financially support the HA project
Nabu Casa is part of the Open Home Foundation and directly funds Home Assistant development. If you use HA daily and want to vote with your wallet - Nabu is the right path. SmartHomeEntry is an independent commercial product.
You want absolutely zero config
You enable Nabu Casa with one switch in the HA settings. SmartHomeEntry on Home Assistant OS is installed as an add-on from our repository with a token from the dashboard - about 2 minutes and a few more steps. If you want absolutely zero setup, Nabu Casa is easier.
How to move from Nabu Casa to SmartHomeEntry - 4 steps
- 1
Create a SmartHomeEntry account
Sign up → choose a plan (Home $7 for 1 service or Pro $24 for up to 5) → install token in the dashboard. Takes 2 minutes.
- 2
Install the agent on HA
Home Assistant OS: add our add-on repository, install the SmartHomeEntry add-on and paste the token from the dashboard. Docker: start the container with the command from the dashboard. HA Core on Linux: one command. Instructions: smarthomeentry.com/en/install#haos.
- 3
Update the URL in the mobile app
In the HA Companion app: Settings → Remote access → change the URL to your SmartHomeEntry subdomain. Desktop app the same. The whole family does it once.
- 4
(Optional) keep Nabu Casa for Google Assistant
If you used Nabu mainly for Google Assistant/Alexa - keep Nabu active for cloud assistants only, and move remote UI access to SmartHomeEntry. Both run in parallel with no conflict.
Nabu Casa → SmartHomeEntry migration
No. Both run in parallel with no conflict at the HA level. You can cancel Nabu after migrating, but technically you don't have to.
A common scenario. Keep Nabu Casa only for Google Assistant / Alexa and move remote UI access to SmartHomeEntry. You then pay for both, so it mainly makes sense when SmartHomeEntry also exposes services other than HA (Nextcloud, NAS, Grafana).
Yes. Voice commands in the HA Companion app go through HA Conversation agent (locally) - the SmartHomeEntry tunnel doesn't affect that. Same behavior as Nabu.
Yes, both run in parallel. Standard migration: enable SmartHomeEntry, test for 2-4 weeks, then cancel Nabu if you're happy. No penalty for running both.
No. Both Nabu Casa and SmartHomeEntry are just a WAY to access remotely - they don't touch your HA database, automations, or config. You only switch the URL in the mobile app. Zero data-loss risk.
Ready to migrate?
Test SmartHomeEntry in parallel with Nabu Casa - no risk. Start from $7/mo or $5 for 7 days.