A smart home does not have to be expensive to begin with. You do not immediately need a central computer, twenty sensors, and a house full of smart lights. About €50 is enough to discover whether home automation is useful to you. If it is, you can expand gradually later.

This article does not prescribe a fixed shopping list or brand. It shows roughly what you can expect at four budget levels: €50, €100, €500, and €1500. The examples are starting points, and all amounts are indicative at September 2026 price levels.

What is included?

The cost depends heavily on what you already own. Many homes already have a modern router and smartphone, so these are not included by default. Professional electrical work, a new central-heating system, solar panels, and a complete EV charger also fall outside these sample budgets.

The four budgets in one sentence:

  • €50: experiment;
  • €100: a practical foundation;
  • €500: a genuinely integrated smart home;
  • €1500: extensive automation covering comfort, energy, and safety.

Where does the money go?

  • Controls: smart lights, plugs, switches, and possibly smart curtains.
  • Sensors: motion, doors or windows, temperature, humidity, leaks, and presence.
  • Central system: Home Assistant, Homey, or a manufacturer’s hub, for example.
  • Energy: a P1 meter, smart plugs with energy monitoring, or separate kWh meters.
  • Comfort and climate: thermostat, radiator controls, ventilation, and blinds.
  • Safety: smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, leak sensors, cameras, or a video doorbell.

Note: prices change continuously. Discounts, brands, and selected protocols can affect the total considerably. In September 2026, the official recommended price of Home Assistant Green is €179 and Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 is €45. Home Assistant software itself is free and open source.

Example price, September 2026 Price Why is it useful?
Home Assistant Green €179 Plug-and-play controller for Home Assistant
Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 €45 Add Zigbee or Thread
HomeWizard P1 Meter €24.95 Monitor total consumption and export
Sonoff Zigbee sensors About €15-20 Affordable door, temperature, and motion sensors

Budget 1: about €50 – simply getting started

Fifty euros will not automate an entire home. It does not have to. The best objective is to solve one small problem and find out whether the solution is useful in daily life.

What can you buy with €50?

  • One smart plug with energy monitoring for about €15-30.
  • One or two smart lights, often about €10-20 each.
  • A simple motion or door/window sensor if you already have a suitable hub.
  • If Home Assistant is already running, you can spend the whole budget on sensors and switches.

What can you do with €50?

  • Control a light on a schedule, from your phone, or automatically.
  • Measure how much electricity a device uses.
  • Switch a small device off automatically to reduce standby consumption.
  • Discover which automations you actually use.

A good €50 project is a smart plug with energy monitoring beside the television, coffee machine, or computer setup. First observe what the device really consumes, then create a simple schedule. You immediately learn about both monitoring and automation.

Smarter than making everything smart: with a small budget, choose one specific annoyance, such as a hallway light that is often left on or a workstation whose overnight consumption you want to know. That is more valuable than five cheap gadgets without a plan.

Budget 2: about €100 – a practical foundation

Around one hundred euros allows you to combine several devices. That is enough to make one room or daily routine genuinely smart.

What can you buy with €100?

  • Two smart lights for about €20-40 in total.
  • One or two smart plugs for about €20-50.
  • One motion sensor for about €15-25.
  • One door/window sensor for about €15-20.
  • Optionally, an affordable hub or Wi-Fi devices that need no separate hub.

What can you do with €100?

  • Make lighting respond automatically to motion.
  • Receive an alert if a door remains open.
  • Switch off a device on a schedule or through a scene.
  • Create a first morning, evening, or good-night routine.

Can you already use Home Assistant?

Yes, if you already own suitable hardware. Home Assistant software costs nothing, so an old mini PC, Raspberry Pi, or other computer can reduce the cost. If you buy new plug-and-play hardware specifically for the job, Home Assistant Green alone already exceeds this budget. It is perfectly reasonable to start small and switch later.

Budget 3: about €500 – a genuinely smart home

About €500 lets you establish a central foundation and automate several rooms. For many households, this is the point where separate smart devices become one integrated system.

An example based on Home Assistant shows one way to divide the budget. The named products are not a mandatory shopping list.

What can you buy with €500?

  • Home Assistant Green: €179.
  • Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 for Zigbee or Thread: €45.
  • A P1 meter for energy insight: about €25.
  • Four smart plugs: about €80-120.
  • Five or six motion, door/window, temperature, or leak sensors: about €80-120.
  • Several smart lights or switches: about €40-70.

What can you do with €500?

  • Control lighting automatically in each room.
  • Monitor energy use for the entire home and individual devices.
  • Automate based on presence, time, sunset, or energy use.
  • Receive alerts about leaks, open doors, or unusual consumption.
  • Bring devices from different brands together in one app and dashboard.

Why is €500 an interesting turning point?

At this level, you can invest in a central foundation, a reliable network, and sensors that feed several automations at once. One motion sensor can influence lighting, heating, and presence detection, for example.

A door contact does not have to provide only an alert. It can also lower the heating temporarily when a window is open, control lighting, or become part of a safety routine.

Budget 4: about €1500 – extensive and future-ready

With €1500, you can make a large part of an average home smart without becoming lost in luxury gadgets. The budget is large enough to address comfort, energy, climate, and safety at the same time.

What can you buy with €1500?

  • Central Home Assistant hardware with Zigbee or Thread: about €225.
  • Ten to twenty sensors throughout the home: about €200-350.
  • Smart plugs, relays, and lighting: about €250-400.
  • Energy monitoring through P1 and possibly separate circuits: about €25-150.
  • Smart climate or radiator controls: about €200-400.
  • Leak sensors, smoke/CO integrations, a video doorbell, or several cameras: about €200-400.
  • Mounting materials, spares, and room for future expansion.

What can you do with €1500?

  • Make lighting respond differently by room and time of day.
  • Control heating or ventilation based on presence and sensors.
  • Use solar production or low electricity prices more effectively.
  • Add safety alerts and water detection throughout the home.
  • Create dashboards for energy, climate, and system status.
  • Run local automations that continue working without the internet.

€1500 does not mean spending €1500 on gadgets. It mainly gives you room to build the system properly. Good placement, reliable power, a solid wireless network, and logical physical controls are often more important than another ten sensors.

Comparing the four budgets

A smart home usually grows one step at a time. You do not need to remain within exactly one column.

€50 €100 €500 €1500
Goal Experiment Foundation Integration Extensive
Number of smart points 1-3 4-7 10-20 20 or more
Central hub required? Not necessarily Not necessarily Usually worthwhile Strongly recommended
Energy insight One device Several devices Whole home and devices Detailed by home or circuit
Automation Simple Small routines Several rooms Whole home
Best approach One problem One room or routine Build a good foundation Optimize and expand

Costs beginners often forget

1. A good network foundation

A poor Wi-Fi or Zigbee network makes even expensive equipment frustrating. Sometimes an additional access point, Zigbee router, or better placement is more important than more gadgets.

2. A hub or controller

Zigbee and Thread devices often need a coordinator, hub, or Border Router. With Home Assistant, a Connect ZBT-2 may provide this function.

3. Batteries and small materials

Coin cells, USB power supplies, cables, wall mounts, power strips, and mounting materials are small individual expenses, but they add up.

4. Subscriptions

Many products work without a subscription. Some brands charge for longer history, cloud storage, or additional features. Check this before buying.

5. Professional installation

Work inside the distribution board, fixed 230V installations, and certain thermostat or blind installations should be handled by someone with the appropriate expertise. These costs are outside the sample budgets.

Where can you save sensibly?

Starting cheaply is perfectly reasonable:

  • Use what you already own; an old mini PC or Raspberry Pi can run Home Assistant.
  • Buy sensors gradually and discover which locations are genuinely useful.
  • Look for open standards such as Zigbee, Matter, and Thread to reduce dependence on one brand.
  • Choose smart plugs with energy monitoring if measurement matters to you.
  • Wait for discounts on lights and sensors, which are regularly reduced.
  • Use one good sensor for several automations.

Areas where you should avoid cutting corners:

  • Network reliability: a smart home that regularly goes offline is mainly annoying.
  • 230V safety: buy properly certified equipment and remain within the specified load.
  • Smoke and CO detection: smart features are an addition, not a reason to compromise on safety equipment.
  • Physical controls: make sure lighting and heating remain logical for visitors and housemates.
  • Backups: with a larger Home Assistant system, you do not want to rebuild everything from scratch.

How should you begin sensibly?

The best route is almost never to buy the €1500 package immediately. Allow the system to grow with what you find useful.

  1. Choose one annoyance. Consider a light, standby consumption, an open door, a cold room, or ventilation.
  2. Start with €50-100. Buy a few devices and see whether automation adds value to your daily life.
  3. Then choose a central system. If you want to combine brands and create more automations, a platform such as Home Assistant is a logical choice.
  4. Build the foundation properly first. Pay attention to the network, Zigbee or Thread, clear device names, backups, and physical controls.
  5. Expand based on usefulness. Add equipment only when you know which problem it will solve.

So, how much does a smart home cost?

The honest answer is: as much as you choose. About €50 can already create something useful. Around €100 provides a small but practical foundation. About €500 can buy a solid central system with multiple sensors and automations. Around €1500 can make much of a home smart, including energy, climate, and safety.

The key question is not how much money you spend, but whether the technology removes work instead of creating more. Start small, observe what you actually use, and let the smart home grow naturally. The best first purchase is therefore not necessarily a particular brand, but a device that solves one specific problem.