WireMyLifeWhich Home Assistant connector should I use?
It depends whether you want the AI to use your house or to work on it.
Use the house: "turn off downstairs"
Start with the built-in MCP Server integration. It only sees entities you expose to Assist and can't edit automations, which is a sensible boundary. Cloud assistants need your HA reachable from the internet (e.g. Home Assistant Cloud).
Work on the house: build and debug automations
ha-mcp is the most popular community server. It can create and edit automations, scripts and dashboards, and read traces and history. It has a read-only mode and per-tool approval. Take a backup first.
Lighter alternative
hass-mcp runs in Docker with just a URL and token, and covers entities, control, automations, history and logs.
Rule of thumb: the token you give the server is the real security boundary. Use a separate HA user, and keep locks and garage doors behind confirmation.
All Home Assistant options, by current status
| Connector | Status | Type | Works with | Access | Setup | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant MCP Server (built-in) | Not yet tested | Built-in | Claude, ChatGPT, Any remote-MCP client (HA must be reachable) | read-write | 2/5 | Free (part of Home Assistant) |
| Home Assistant MCP client (built-in) | Not yet tested | Built-in | Home Assistant Assist (uses outside MCP tools) | read-write | 3/5 | Free (part of Home Assistant) |
| ha-mcp | Not yet tested | Self-hosted | Any MCP client (local), Claude (remote) | read-write | 3/5 | Free (open source) |
| hass-mcp | Not yet tested | Self-hosted | Any MCP client (local) | read-write | 3/5 | Free (open source) |
| homeassistant-mcp (tevonsb) | Stale | Self-hosted | Any MCP client (local) | read-write | 3/5 | Free (open source) |
See the ranked list of Home Assistant AI connectors · all home connectors.