Home Assistant is renaming its cloud service to Home Assistant Link and removing cloud imagery from its logo, citing dissatisfaction with how major tech companies have commercialized cloud infrastructure.
The open-source smart home platform announced the rebrand today as part of a broader strategy to distance itself from traditional cloud computing models. Founder Paulus Schoutsen told The Verge that "big tech ruined the cloud," prompting the decision to drop the term entirely.
Home Assistant Link will maintain the same functionality as the previous cloud offering, allowing users to access their smart home systems remotely and enable voice assistant integrations. The service enables remote access to home automation systems and integrations with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant.
The rebrand reflects growing frustration among open-source and privacy-focused software communities with how major technology companies have leveraged cloud services. Home Assistant has long positioned itself as an alternative to proprietary smart home platforms, emphasizing local control and user data sovereignty.
The move doesn't represent a fundamental shift in Home Assistant's infrastructure or service model—it remains a cloud-based offering that syncs data across devices. Instead, the rebrand serves as a statement against what Schoutsen views as the commercialization and monopolization of cloud computing by major tech firms.
Home Assistant has grown into one of the most popular open-source smart home platforms, with a large community contributing integrations and features. The project is backed by Nabu Casa, a company founded to provide commercial support and cloud services for the platform.
The rebrand also includes removing cloud imagery from Home Assistant's logo, replacing it with alternative branding that doesn't reference cloud computing at all. This visual change accompanies the service name change across Home Assistant's website and documentation.
While the rebrand is largely symbolic, it highlights ongoing tensions between open-source communities and commercial cloud providers over data privacy, ownership, and control. Home Assistant continues to emphasize local-first architecture, where devices can operate independently without relying on cloud connectivity.
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