Nabu Casa is renaming Home Assistant Cloud to Home Assistant Link to better reflect its values and distance itself from problematic cloud services. The service provides optional remote access and sustainability funding for Home Assistant while prioritizing user privacy, local control, and avoiding vendor lock-in unlike Big Tech cloud providers.
Home Assistant is renaming its cloud service to Home Assistant Link to distance itself from the term "cloud," which founder Paulus Schoutsen says big tech has ruined. The rebrand is mostly symbolic; the $6.50/month service still provides remote access and cloud-dependent features while maintaining local control and encrypted data that Link operators cannot access. The move is part of a broader strategy to make Home Assistant more mainstream by simplifying setup and adding AI capabilities.