Home Assistant Opens Contributions for the Open Home Foundation Device Database

Home Assistant has announced plans for general availability of the Open Home Foundation Device Database, the fruit of an ongoing effort to gather privacy-focused data on smart home devices — with users able to opt-in to data collection in Home Assistant 2026.2.

"The Open Home Foundation Device Database [is] a community-powered resource built from anonymized data shared voluntarily by Home Assistant users around the world. The aim: to give people the information they need to benefit from privacy, choice, and sustainability in their smart homes," explains Home Assistant's Matthias Kerstner. "Having easy access to this wealth of data changes everything. With the device database at your fingertips, you'll know upfront that there are 1000+ Home Assistant users running that smart plug fully locally, and it includes those voltage and wattage sensors you were looking for. Or if you see a sensor everyone's raving about requires Bluetooth when your protocol of choice is Zigbee, the database could save you the hassle of buying it in the first place."

The project, run under the auspice of the Open Home Foundation, builds on Home Assistant's existing Works with Home Assistant certification program — but rather than single-point-in-time data collection during lab testing, offers the results of real-world usage. The source of that information: Home Assistant users who have opted in to contribute anonymized data based on their actual installations, augmented with information from manufacturers and commercial partners.

The database is currently in the data-gathering stage, Kerstner explains, with around 2,000 unique devices across more than 160 integrations — largely gathered from Open Home Foundation members plus Home Assistant users invited to a closed beta. With the launch of Home Assistant 2026.2, the data-gathering side is available to all as an explicitly opt-in "Labs" feature. Leave the feature disabled, and no data is gathered nor contributed.

"Building on the further insights and feedback we gather," Kerstner says, "we're planning to launch the first public device database web interface in the first half of 2026. The plan is to make it easier for you to explore and interact with the information, beyond simple statistical dashboards. While this initial version will be far from the final version (if there ever is one!) […] by getting it into your hands as early as possible, we can better understand where to go next, and make sure our future work is focused on the most valuable features for you."

More information is available on the Home Assistant blog, including instructions for opting in to data collection and providing feedback.