Hive's Welcome Home Standard ZigBee automation kit includes a thermostat, two smart plugs, two door sensors, one motion sensor, four LED bulbs and a hub. Set schedules, create custom automations and opt in to alerts in the responsive and smartly designed Hive app. Enlist your voice platform of choice -- Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant -- to control your devices without ever picking up your phone.
It sounds pretty good, right? Not so fast.
Hive, like ADT, Vivint and other professional companies, locks you into a multiyear contract. In Hive's case, it's two years, or 24 months of required $25 monthly payments. (The Welcome Home Standard Plan is currently US-only; Hive is based in the UK, where a Welcome Home plan costs £5.99 per month.) There is no upfront cost for the hardware, but the total cost after two years comes to $600 for the Standard kit I tested -- and even more if you use Hive for longer than two years.
Weirdly, Hive isn't a professional system -- it's strictly do-it-yourself and self-monitored. So, unlike ADT and others, you won't get free installation, professional monitoring or any other advanced features for your money.
Given that I could piece together my own DIY system for less, I'm really not sure why I (or anyone else) would buy Hive's otherwise impressive automation kit.
Is Hive's Welcome Home Standard a good value?
Spoiler alert: Not really. Here's a quick comparison with some other DIY automation and security systems.
Wink
- 1x hub: Wink Hub 2.0, $99
- 1x thermostat: Ecobee3 Lite, $169
- 2x smart plugs: iHome Smart Plug, $40 x 2 = $80 total
- 2x door sensors: GoControl Essential Home Security Suite, $49
- 1x motion sensor: (included in the GoControl Security Suite)
- 4x LEDs: Cree Connected LED bulbs, $15 x 4 = $60
Wink grand total: $457
Samsung SmartThings
- 1x hub: SmartThings, $99
- 1x thermostat: Ecobee3 Lite, $169
- 2x smart plugs: SmartThings Outlet, $36 x 2 = $72 total
- 2x door sensors: Ecolink Intelligent Door Sensor, $25 x 2 = $50
- 1x motion sensor: SmartThings Motion Sensor: $40
- 4x LEDs: Cree Connected LED bulbs $15 x 4 = $60
SmartThings grand total: $490
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