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Home Assistant vs Tines

Home Assistant logo

Home Assistant

Smart Home

Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tines logo

Tines

Automation Integration

No-code automation for security teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Home Assistant add-ons run only on Home Assistant Operating System installations, and Container installations have no access to them; Tines no-code, UI-driven approach is restrictive for complex logic and version control integration with SDLC
  • They diverge on capability: Home Assistant covers Local Control, Tines covers Story builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Home Assistant and Tines actually diverge.

Attributes where Home Assistant and Tines differ
AttributeHome AssistantTines
Pricing modelopen-sourceUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Raspberry Pi, MacOS, WindowsWeb
CategorySmart HomeAutomation Integration
Founded20132018

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Home Assistant

  • Local Control
  • Privacy First
  • Automation Engine
  • Custom Integrations
  • 150+ integrations
  • Voice Control
  • Mobile App
  • REST API

Only in Tines

  • Story builder
  • Drag-and-drop workflows
  • Event triggers
  • Incident response automation
  • Threat intelligence
  • Case management
  • Alert triage
  • Slack

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Home Assistant

  • Home automationnot Tines
  • Energy monitoringnot Tines
  • Security systemsnot Tines
  • Device integrationnot Tines

Tines

  • Workflow Automationnot Home Assistant
  • Data Integrationnot Home Assistant
  • Process Automationnot Home Assistant
  • App Integrationnot Home Assistant
  • API Connectivitynot Home Assistant

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Home Assistant

  • Add-ons run only on Home Assistant Operating System installations, and Container installations have no access to them
  • Thread and Z-Wave are controlled by add-ons, so a Container install has no out-of-the-box support for either
  • A Container installation means bringing your own Linux host with Docker and handling updates by hand
  • The recommended install path expects dedicated hardware such as a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with at least 2 GB of RAM, an Odroid, or an x86-64 machine
  • Every documented hardware option requires a wired Ethernet connection

Tines

  • No-code, UI-driven approach is restrictive for complex logic and version control integration with SDLC
  • No native log intelligence layer to validate data completeness
  • Limited scope to security workloads, cannot handle general business automation
  • Governance features lag behind EU AI Act compliance requirements

Pricing, plan by plan

Home Assistant

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Unlimited devices
    • Full automation
    • Local control

Tines

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Tines review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Home Assistant if

  • You need local control.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Raspberry Pi, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want privacy first.
Home Assistant review

Choose Tines if

  • You need story builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want drag-and-drop workflows.
Tines review

Questions people ask

Is Home Assistant or Tines better?
Neither clearly leads. Home Assistant starts at Free and Tines at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Home Assistant or Tines?
Home Assistant starts at Free and Tines at Free.
Does Home Assistant or Tines run on more platforms?
Home Assistant runs on Linux, Docker, Raspberry Pi, MacOS, Windows. Tines runs on Web.
Can I use Home Assistant for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Home Assistant best used for?
Home Assistant is most often used for home automation, energy monitoring, security systems, device integration. Of those, home automation and energy monitoring are not what Tines is typically brought in for.
What can Home Assistant do that Tines cannot?
Home Assistant covers Local Control, Privacy First, Automation Engine, Custom Integrations. Tines covers Story builder, Drag-and-drop workflows, Event triggers, Incident response automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Home Assistant: Does Home Assistant software cost anything?

Home Assistant core software is completely free and open source. It is operated by the Open Home Foundation as a non-profit, which means it cannot be sold or acquired. Commercial products like Home Assistant hardware are sold separately.

Source
Tines: What are Tines' pricing tiers?

Tines offers a free Community Edition for evaluation, Starter Edition at $500/month with annual billing, and Business/Enterprise tiers starting around $50,000/year for small security teams and scaling to $200,000+ for large SOCs.

Source
Home Assistant: Are there paid products from Home Assistant?

Home Assistant offers official hardware products including Home Assistant Green, Connect ZBT-2, Connect ZWA-2, and Voice Preview Edition, which have separate pricing. Nabu Casa provides commercial services as an official partner.

Source
Tines: What is the Community Edition limited to?

As of July 2026, the free Community Edition is scoped to 1 builder and 3 flows as an evaluation tool to test Tines' capabilities.

Source
Tines: Is Tines limited to security automation?

Yes, Tines is purpose-built for security automation. Teams needing non-security automation on the same orchestration layer would need to evaluate alternatives.

Source
Tines: Does Tines have native log intelligence capabilities?

No, Tines lacks a native log intelligence layer, meaning it cannot determine whether the data feeding your detection tools is complete. Teams must build automation against whatever alerts their existing infrastructure provides.

Source
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