Apple Home vs eWeLink

Apple Home is a free app for controlling smart home accessories across Apple devices. Its Home tab groups accessories into categories such as Lights, Security, and Climate and displays their status. It supports compatible accessories for lighting, security, comfort, and entry, along with Matter, cameras, energy monitoring, and voice assistants. The app can show up to four cameras at once, while guest access can grant time-limited permissions for door locks, garage doors, and alarm systems. Accessories can be added by scanning a code or bringing an iPhone or iPad near them; Apple says they cannot be added to Home on Mac. A HomePod, HomePod mini, or Apple TV can serve as a hub for remote access and automation. Examples include turning on lights at a set time, closing blinds when leaving, or adjusting a fan as temperature rises. Siri can also control accessories. Apple says Home data is stored so it cannot read it, accessories are controlled by Apple devices rather than the cloud, and communications are end-to-end encrypted. The app requires Apple devices and compatible accessories.

eWeLink is a smart home platform for controlling, automating, and monitoring devices from more than 1,000 brands. It supports Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Matter devices, with remote control of functions such as lights, brightness, and temperature. Smart scenes can respond to a schedule, device state, or NFC tag. Voice control works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts; listed integrations also include Google Home, SmartThings, IFTTT, Philips Hue, Home Assistant, Yandex Alice, and Olisto. LAN mode enables local device control without internet access. The free, self-hosted eWeLink CUBE bridges eWeLink Wi-Fi and multi-brand Zigbee devices into Matter, allowing them to appear in platforms such as Apple Home, Google Home, and Home Assistant. CUBE can run on Raspberry Pi, Windows, macOS, Docker, NAS devices, and virtual machines. The app is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows, and an API is listed. Advanced costs $9.90 a year; Prime costs $19.90 a year. The Camera Plan costs $19.99 a year for one camera and 30-day cloud video storage, but does not store continuous video.