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Home Assistant Starter Kit
A full smart home starter kit I'd recommend for anyone building out in 2026 — hubs, Zigbee radios, sensors, plugs and bulbs, all running locally.
This is the full smart home starter kit I'd recommend if you're starting out in 2026. It's everything you need to go from nothing to a fully working smart home running locally on your own hardware.
The kit mostly focuses on building out a Zigbee smart home, but Thread devices are covered too. Pick the hub and radio that suit you, then mix and match the sensors, plugs and bulbs depending on what you want to automate first.
Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps support the channel.
Hubs
KUYIA Mini PC (8GB)
A great-value 8GB mini PC and my recommended starting point for Home Assistant. Small, silent, and more than capable of running Home Assistant OS with room to spare.
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Beelink Mini PC (16GB)
Overkill for Home Assistant alone, but a brilliant little box if you want to run a wider home lab — Docker containers, media servers and more — alongside it.
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Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit
The classic Home Assistant route. I'd nudge you towards one of the mini PCs above for the headroom, but a Pi 5 is still a perfectly good home for Home Assistant.
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Raspberry Pi SSD HAT
Recommended if you go the Pi route. Running Home Assistant from an SSD instead of an SD card is far faster and far more reliable in the long run.
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SanDisk USB Flash Drive
You'll need a USB drive (at least 8GB) to flash the OS during installation. Once Home Assistant is installed, you won't need it anymore.
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SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus
The Zigbee coordinator I recommend for most people. Plug it in via a USB extension cable and you've got a Zigbee network. Works brilliantly with ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT.
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SMLight SLZB-MR4U
A multiradio coordinator for people who want to run Zigbee and Thread from a single device. A step up if you're serious about your network.
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SONOFF Multi-Protocol Dongle
A flexible multi-protocol dongle. Note: you'd need to re-flash it to use it as a Thread radio, so it's one for the more adventurous.
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Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2
The official Home Assistant Zigbee & Thread radio. A safe, well-supported choice that works out of the box with Home Assistant.
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USB 2.0 Extension Cable
Strongly recommended for any USB radio — it keeps the dongle away from USB 3.0 interference. Check whether your dongle ships with one included first!
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Aqara Door & Window Sensor
A tiny, reliable Zigbee contact sensor. Perfect for doors, windows, cupboards or anywhere you want to know if something's open or closed.
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Aqara Temperature & Humidity Sensor
Cheap, accurate and great for triggering automations based on temperature or humidity — think bathroom fans, heating, or just nice dashboards.
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Aqara P1 Motion Sensor
A Zigbee motion sensor with configurable timeouts and a long battery life. A staple for lighting automations and presence-based triggers.
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Aqara Water Leak Sensor
Small but invaluable. Tuck one under a sink, behind the washing machine or by the boiler and get an instant alert the moment it detects water.
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Aqara Wireless Mini Switch (Button)
A single Zigbee button with single, double and long-press actions. A brilliant, low-cost way to trigger any automation you like.
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Aqara Double Wireless Switch (2-Button)
The two-button version of the mini switch. Twice the buttons, twice the actions — handy for controlling a couple of things from one spot.
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Aqara mmWave Presence Sensor (FP2)
True presence detection that sees you even when you're sitting still — far better than motion sensors for occupied rooms. Note: this one is Wi-Fi, not Zigbee.
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SONOFF Orb 4-in-1 Zigbee Button (SNZB-01M)
A compact Zigbee scene button with four buttons and up to 16 triggers. Pair it to a bulb for your first automation — exactly what we do in the guide.
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Innr Smart Plug
A neat, reliable Zigbee smart plug. Great for adding switching and energy monitoring to lamps, fans and anything else you want to automate.
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SONOFF Zigbee Smart Plug
An affordable, dependable Zigbee plug that pairs easily with Home Assistant. A solid choice for your first switching automations.
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SONOFF Zigbee USB Smart Plug
A handy USB-powered Zigbee switch for smart-controlling USB gadgets, LED strips and other low-voltage bits and pieces.
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ThirdReality Smart Plug
A budget-friendly Zigbee plug that does exactly what it should. A good value option if you're kitting out several rooms at once.
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Innr E27 Zigbee Smart Bulb (2-Pack)
A solid Zigbee bulb for getting started. Warm white, dimmable, 806 lumens — and great value in a two-pack.
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Philips Hue Smart Bulbs
The premium option. Pricier than the alternatives, but the quality, colour accuracy and reliability are hard to beat if budget allows.
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ThirdReality RGB Bulb
A budget RGB Zigbee bulb. I haven't personally tested this one, but it's an inexpensive way to add some colour to your setup.
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Aqara Smart Bulbs
Aqara's take on the smart bulb. Another one I haven't personally tested, but worth a look if you're already invested in the Aqara ecosystem.
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Repenic Dimmer
Prefer a proper wall switch to smart bulbs? These are the UK-designed Repenic dimmers I recommend. Use code fox10 for 10% off at checkout.
View productBrowse the brand stores
The links above are specific products I recommend. If you want to explore the full ranges — including Thread devices I haven't linked individually — head straight to the brands' stores.