Best Home Assistant Integrations to Start With
If you've just installed Home Assistant, the best integrations to start with are the ones that give you reliable local control, useful context, and a way to interact with your system from anywhere: your existing smart devices (often added automatically), the official Home Assistant Companion app, a weather source, sun, and—if you own Matter or Thread gear—the built-in Matter integration. These form a stable base you can automate against before you add anything fancier. Below we explain which integrations matter, why, and the order that tends to cause the fewest headaches.
Why "local first" is the right starting principle
Home Assistant's biggest advantage over a typical voice-assistant ecosystem is that much of it can run on your own network without depending on a manufacturer's cloud. Integrations that communicate locally respond faster, keep working during internet outages, and don't break when a vendor changes its API. That's why the official documentation distinguishes "local push" and "local polling" integrations from cloud ones—and why it's worth favoring local options when you're choosing what to set up first.
This also affects reliability. Cloud integrations add another point of failure between you and your devices. If you're deciding how much to lean on a hub-and-cloud model versus local control, our comparison of Home Assistant vs SmartThings vs Alexa walks through the trade-offs.
The foundational integrations to set up first
These are low-effort, high-value, and they're what most useful automations end up referencing.
- Auto-discovered devices. When Home Assistant starts, it scans your network and surfaces compatible devices (many Wi-Fi smart plugs, TVs, printers, media players, and more) under Settings. Adding these is usually a couple of clicks and gives you instant entities to work with.
- Home Assistant Companion app. The official mobile app does more than provide a remote dashboard. It exposes your phone as a device—location, battery, connectivity, and notifications—so you can build presence-based automations and receive actionable alerts.
- Weather. A weather integration gives automations real-world context: close the blinds when it's sunny, send a reminder when rain is forecast, or adjust a thermostat. Met.no is a common free, no-API-key starting option.
- Sun. The Sun integration tracks sunrise, sunset, and elevation. It's the backbone of lighting automations like "turn on porch lights at dusk," which is far more reliable than a fixed clock time that drifts with the seasons.
- 1Open Settings, then Devices & Services
- 2Review the discovered integrations Home Assistant already found
- 3Add the Companion app from your phone’s app store and sign in
- 4Add a weather source and confirm Sun is enabled
Connecting your existing ecosystems
Most people arrive at Home Assistant already owning devices tied to a brand or platform. Rather than replacing everything, you can bridge what you have:
- Matter. If you own Matter-certified devices, Home Assistant's built-in Matter integration lets you add them directly over your local network. Matter is designed for local, cross-platform control, which fits the local-first philosophy well.
- Thread. Many newer Matter devices use Thread, a low-power mesh that needs a Thread border router. You may already own one inside a smart speaker or hub—see Thread border routers you may already own.
- Zigbee and Z-Wave. With a supported USB radio, Home Assistant can run a Zigbee or Z-Wave network locally, no manufacturer hub required. This is one of the strongest reasons people choose the platform.
- Voice assistants. Integrations exist to connect with Alexa and Google ecosystems so devices and routines can interoperate.
If you're unsure which radio standard to build around, our guide to Matter vs Zigbee vs Z-Wave explains where each fits.
Local vs cloud at a glance
| Integration type | Responds during internet outage | Typical speed | Good first pick? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local (Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Sun) | Yes | Fast | Yes |
| Local polling (many Wi-Fi devices) | Usually | Slight delay | Yes |
| Cloud (vendor API, some voice links) | No | Varies | Add later |
- Runs locally on your network
- Keeps working without internet
- Often requires a manufacturer account
- Convenient when no local option exists
What to add later (not first)
It's tempting to install dozens of integrations on day one, but stacking too much before your core is stable makes troubleshooting hard. Hold off on these until the foundation works:
- Advanced custom integrations from the community store—powerful, but they add maintenance and update risk.
- Energy monitoring dashboards—worth it, but more rewarding once your devices report data reliably.
- Complex multi-condition automations—build these after you trust your sensors and presence detection.
Keeping the foundation stable
Even great integrations underperform on a shaky network. Many "Home Assistant is unreliable" complaints trace back to Wi-Fi or mesh problems rather than the software. A separate or well-configured 2.4 GHz network helps most smart devices—see smart-home Wi-Fi best practices—and if devices keep dropping, our hub disconnection fix guide covers the usual culprits.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a hub to use Home Assistant integrations?
Not necessarily. Home Assistant itself acts as your central controller. Wi-Fi and Matter devices connect over your network, and a USB radio lets you run Zigbee or Z-Wave directly. Thread devices, however, need a Thread border router somewhere on your network. For more on this, see whether you still need a smart-home hub.
How many integrations should I install at the start?
Begin with a handful: your auto-discovered devices, the Companion app, weather, and sun. That's enough to build genuinely useful automations. Add more only after each new integration proves stable.
Are cloud integrations bad?
No—they're often the only way to connect certain devices, and they can be perfectly reliable. The point is to prefer local options when both exist, because local control is faster and survives internet outages.
Will adding integrations slow Home Assistant down?
A reasonable number won't. Performance issues are more often tied to underpowered hardware, heavy polling, or network instability than to the count of integrations. Start lean and grow deliberately.
