Signal / 007 — Home Assistant drops “Cloud” for Link, but local control stays put

SYSVOID SIGNAL // 5 OCTOBER 2026

Nabu Casa is retiring the name Home Assistant Cloud. The optional subscription service will become Home Assistant Link, a label the company says better describes how it connects a locally run Home Assistant system to online extras without moving the smart home itself into somebody else’s data center.

Same service, clearer boundary

According to the October 2 announcement, Link remains optional. Home Assistant continues running locally, and core automations, lights, and devices are meant to keep working without the subscription. The service adds conveniences including encrypted remote access, easier Alexa and Google Home connections, online speech processing, off-site backups, and customer support.

Nabu Casa also says it has moved the remote-access backend to a new bare-metal setup that tries to connect users through the closest server. That is an attributed infrastructure claim, not a performance result tested by sysVoid.

A rename with a philosophy attached

The company argues that “cloud” now suggests lock-in, data harvesting, subscriptions that can break essential features, and devices that become e-waste when servers disappear. Link is positioned as the opposite: an online extension for a local system, with encrypted user data and no requirement to keep paying for the home to function. Nabu Casa says the majority of subscription profits support the nonprofit Open Home Foundation and development of Home Assistant.

The rename is expected to become official in the December 2026.12 release. Until then, the announcement is also a request for community feedback.

Opinion: “Link” is less technically descriptive than “cloud,” but it draws the more important line: the internet service is an accessory, not the foundation. For home-lab builders, that distinction is the whole point.

Source: Home Assistant’s official announcement.

AI-assisted summary, reviewed against the linked primary source. Escape the default. Built for the edge cases.