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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →LG announced on July 3, 2024, that it had acquired an 80% stake in Athom, the Dutch company behind the Homey smart-home platform. LG said the deal would help it connect more third-party devices to its ThinQ ecosystem, combining Homey’s broad device support with ThinQ’s appliance controls and AI services.
The announcement was a strategic plan, not proof that every Homey device or integration is already available natively through ThinQ. As of August 18, 2026, official material confirms that Homey continues to operate as its own platform, but does not verify a completed 100% acquisition or a fully merged ThinQ/Homey consumer experience.
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What LG actually bought
The legal acquisition target was Athom, founded in Enschede, the Netherlands, in 2014. Athom develops Homey, a smart-home platform that includes hub hardware, mobile and web software, cloud services, an app store, automation tools and a developer ecosystem.
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Homey is therefore not simply a single smart-home device. It is the platform LG wants to use to broaden ThinQ beyond LG-made appliances. LG ThinQ is LG’s existing connected-appliance and smart-home ecosystem, while ThinQ ON is a newer AI home hub announced after the acquisition.
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- YOUR HOME CONNECTED: Bring all your smart home devices together with Homey Pro and experience a home that truly works in harmony. With double the RAM, this new version lets you add even more devices, so your smart home can grow without limits and feel more complete than ever. Whether you're at home or halfway around the world, you can effortlessly manage, monitor, and automate your entire setup. Stay in control with real-time insights, track historical energy usage, and receive sensor alerts—everything you need to keep your home running smoothly, all from one place.
- YOUR HOME, YOUR RULES: Make all your devices work together seamlessly with Homey Flow. Switch your entire home off with the push of a button. Automatically play music when you arrive home. Create Flows right within the Homey app on your phone, or create Advanced Flows in the Homey Web App.
- THE BRANDS YOU LOVE: Homey Pro works with over 50,000 devices from more than 1,000 brands. Connect devices from Sonos, Philips Hue, Kwikset, Govee, Aqara, TP-Link, iRobot, Ecobee, Spotify Connect, IKEA, Yale, LG, Dyson, Withings, Shelly, Somfy and many more. Thanks to Homey’s open platform, new devices are added daily, and Homey Pro supports both Official and Community-built Homey Apps. VISIT THE HOMEY WEBSITE TO CHECK ALL COMPATIBLE BRANDS.
- SEVEN(!) TECHNOLOGIES IN ONE LOCAL-FIRST HUB: Homey Pro features Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave Plus, Infrared, BLE, Matter and Thread. That’s more protocols than any other smart home hub. These are all controlled locally: Homey Pro processes everything on-premise. Your data is stored on Homey Pro itself, and cloud-dependency is minimalized.
- POWERFUL ENERGY SAVINGS: Automate your home to save energy, or schedule your usage according to solar generation. Save on your energy bill without losing any comfort.
LG said Homey could connect more than 50,000 device types and that its app store contained roughly 1,000 applications at the time of the announcement. Those are LG’s stated figures, not independently audited counts, and “device types,” brands, models and integrations are not interchangeable. Homey’s current U.S. site lists more than 1,200 apps, but ecosystem totals change and should not be compared directly without considering the date and counting method. LG’s acquisition announcement · Homey’s current app ecosystem
Deal structure and timeline
- July 3, 2024: LG announced the acquisition of an 80% stake in Athom.
- Remaining ownership: The agreement contemplated LG acquiring the remaining 20% within three years—approximately by July 3, 2027.
- Deal value: LG did not disclose the purchase price in its announcement.
- Operations: Athom was expected to continue operating independently under its own brand and business structure.
- Leadership: Founders Emile Nijssen and Stefan Witkamp were expected to remain involved as Athom executives.
That means it is more precise to say that LG announced an 80% Athom acquisition than to describe the transaction as an immediate 100% buyout. The available official material does not establish that the final 20% purchase had been completed by August 18, 2026. Athom’s announcement · TechCrunch’s coverage
Why Athom was attractive to LG
LG already had a strong position in connected appliances. The strategic gap was the wider smart home: lighting, sensors, locks, thermostats, entertainment equipment and products from competing manufacturers.
Homey gave LG capabilities that would be difficult to build quickly from scratch:
- Support for multiple wireless protocols, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread and infrared, depending on the product and region.
- A mature app-store model with official and community-developed integrations.
- Automation tools and a platform used by mixed-brand households, particularly in Europe.
- A developer and partner network that can expand device support faster than a closed, appliance-only ecosystem.
LG described the objective as bringing Homey’s third-party connectivity together with ThinQ’s AI capabilities. In practical terms, LG bought a shortcut into the broader smart-home market rather than attempting to develop every device integration itself. LG’s connectivity details
Homey compatibility is not the same as ThinQ compatibility
Several separate layers determine whether a smart-home product works in a particular setup:
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- YOUR HOME CONNECTED: Unify your smart home devices with Homey Pro. Manage your entire home from anywhere in the world. Control and automate your devices, view real-time and historical energy usage and receive sensor alerts.
- YOUR HOME, YOUR RULES: Make all your devices work together seamlessly with Homey Flow. Switch your entire home off with the push of a button. Automatically play music when you arrive home. Create Flows right within the Homey app on your phone, or create Advanced Flows in the Homey Web App.
- THE BRANDS YOU LOVE: Homey Pro works with over 50,000 devices from more than 1,000 brands. Connect devices from Sonos, Philips Hue, Kwikset, Govee, Aqara, TP-Link, iRobot, Ecobee, Spotify Connect, IKEA, Yale, LG, Dyson, Withings, Shelly, Somfy and many more. Thanks to Homey’s open platform, new devices are added daily, and Homey Pro supports both Official and Community-built Homey Apps. VISIT THE HOMEY WEBSITE TO CHECK ALL COMPATIBLE BRANDS.
- SEVEN(!) TECHNOLOGIES IN ONE LOCAL-FIRST HUB: Homey Pro features Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave Plus, Infrared, BLE, Matter and Thread. That’s more protocols than any other smart home hub. These are all controlled locally: Homey Pro processes everything on-premise. Your data is stored on Homey Pro itself, and cloud-dependency is minimalized.
- POWERFUL ENERGY SAVINGS: Automate your home to save energy, or schedule your usage according to solar generation or dynamic tariffs. Save on your energy bill without losing any comfort.
- Protocol support: The device may use Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, infrared or a proprietary radio.
- Manufacturer integration: The maker may provide a local or cloud connection.
- Homey support: An official or community Homey app may expose the device to Homey automations.
- ThinQ support: LG must separately decide whether the device appears in the ThinQ app, routines, voice controls, hub or AI features.
- Regional availability: Radios, services and integrations can vary by country.
- Cloud requirements: Some products work locally, while others depend on a manufacturer’s cloud account.
The acquisition may make future ThinQ expansion easier, but it does not remove these technical and commercial layers. Matter support also does not guarantee access to every advanced feature, energy metric, scene or device-specific setting.
ThinQ ON and LG’s broader AI-home strategy
In September 2024, LG presented ThinQ ON as a Matter-certified AI home hub supporting Wi-Fi and Thread. LG said the hub was intended to manage LG appliances and third-party devices, support voice controls and routines, and use generative AI to understand household preferences and context.
LG connected Athom’s acquisition with plans to expand ThinQ ON’s supported brands and devices. Its language about “understanding” customers and delivering optimal space solutions describes LG’s strategic vision, not independently verified performance results.
The deal also builds on LG’s earlier interoperability work. LG has supported the Matter standard and participated in the Home Connectivity Alliance, or HCA, which focuses on cross-brand appliance connectivity. Matter is an interoperability standard; Homey is a complete hardware-and-software automation platform; HCA is an appliance-ecosystem initiative. They overlap in purpose but are not interchangeable. LG’s ThinQ ON announcement · LG on HCA and Matter · HCA specification announcement
What the acquisition means for existing Homey customers
Homey customers were promised continuity rather than an immediate migration to ThinQ. Athom said it would continue developing Homey Cloud and Homey Pro, retain its branding and operations, and use LG’s manufacturing, partnerships and global sales resources to expand.
That means existing Homey products and services were not announced as discontinued or replaced by ThinQ. The potential benefits include better distribution, more resources and eventual integration with LG appliances. The unresolved questions include future pricing, data-sharing arrangements, cloud policies, API access, support for rival appliance brands and whether LG will eventually prioritize ThinQ over Homey’s independent experience.
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- EFFORTLESS & LOCAL SMART HOME CONTROL – Automate and manage all your smart devices from one place. Monitor energy usage, receive real-time alerts, and enjoy local data processing for enhanced privacy and reliability—even when the internet is down.
- AUTOMATE YOUR LIFE WITH HOMEY FLOW – Create personalized routines using Homey Flow. Turn off all devices with one tap, play music when you get home, or build advanced workflows with the Homey desktop app for full customization.
- WORKS WITH 1000+ BRANDS – Seamlessly integrates with popular smart home brands like Sonos, Philips Hue, Ecobee, LG, Yale, Govee, TP-Link, and more. Access an expanding library of official and community-developed Homey Apps. Visit the Homey website to explore the full list of supported brands.
- MULTI-PROTOCOL COMPATIBILITY – Supports Zigbee, Matter, Thread, and Ethernet out of the box. Add Homey Bridge (sold separately) to enable Z-Wave, Bluetooth, and Infrared, unlocking even more smart home device connections.
- NO SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED – Enjoy unlimited access to all Homey features, including cloud services like remote access, voice assistant integrations (Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri), and more — all without a monthly fee.
Athom’s continued independence is an announced operating arrangement, not a guarantee that product priorities or privacy policies can never change under LG ownership.
Regional and technical limitations
Homey hardware does not work identically in every market. Homey’s U.S. site states that 433 MHz transmission is currently disabled on Homey Pro and Homey Bridge in the United States, Canada and South Korea because of regulatory differences. Buyers with compatible legacy devices should check the regional specifications before purchasing. Homey’s U.S. platform information
Community apps can also differ from official manufacturer integrations in maintenance, support, security review, privacy handling and reliability. A large app count is useful evidence of ecosystem breadth, but it is not a promise that every integration will remain equally capable or supported.
Some homes may still need multiple components: a Homey hub or Bridge, a Thread border router, a manufacturer bridge, vendor cloud accounts, an LG ThinQ account or another Matter controller. LG’s investment does not automatically turn one device into a universal replacement for every hub.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Should you buy Homey hardware because of LG’s acquisition?
Buy based on Homey’s capabilities today, not on the possibility of a future ThinQ integration. The acquisition is a reason to watch the platform; it is not evidence that a promised combined experience is already available.
Homey Cloud
Homey Cloud is the lowest-commitment option for supported devices. The U.S. service page lists a free tier for up to five devices and Premium at $2.99 per month, based on pricing observed August 18, 2026. It suits users who want an app-based platform without buying a hub. It is a weaker fit for local control, community apps and advanced automation.
Rank #4
- LOCAL PROCESSING FOR INSTANT RESPONSE: The Hubitat Elevation C-8 Pro runs automations directly on the hub, not on remote servers, so lights, locks, thermostats, and routines keep working even when your internet goes down; this local-first architecture delivers near-instant response to every trigger without relying on remote servers to process commands; compatible with 1,000+ devices across 100+ brands, and device data stays at home for enhanced privacy
- WORKS WITH ALEXA, GOOGLE HOME, AND APPLE HOMEKIT: Connect your preferred voice assistant and start controlling your smart home from day 1; the C-8 Pro is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, so your existing ecosystem works alongside the hub without compromise; Ring camera integration adds a concrete layer of security awareness; approachable setup is supported by step-by-step documentation and an active online community ready to guide you through every stage
- MULTI-PROTOCOL SUPPORT WITH EXTENDED RANGE: A single hub covers Matter 1.5, Z-Wave 800 Series with Long Range, Zigbee 3.0, and Bluetooth, so existing devices stay compatible without extra bridges or adapters; 800 Series Z-Wave and Zigbee 3.0 deliver improved reliability and mesh stability, backed by Z-Wave Alliance membership; 2 dedicated external antennas, one for Z-Wave and one for Zigbee, extend wireless reach in larger homes and device-dense environments where signal consistency is critical
- AI-ASSISTED AUTOMATION AND ADVANCED RULE ENGINE: The AI-assisted routine builder suggests and builds automations based on your connected devices, no programming required; Rule Machine enables multi-condition logic across lighting scenes, geofenced arrivals, layered security responses, and whole-home scheduling; when your family arrives after dark, the hub can unlock the door, activate pathway lights, and adjust the thermostat, turning complex sequences into reliable hands-free routines
- NO SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED AND CONTINUOUS UPDATES: Full platform functionality needs no recurring subscription; every automation, integration, and advanced feature is available from setup; continuous platform updates since 2018 have expanded compatibility without requiring new hardware; an active community of tech-savvy homeowners and DIY smart home builders shares custom apps, drivers, and automation blueprints for ongoing value; compact at 3.23 x 2.95 x 0.67 in and just 0.16 lb, it fits anywhere
Check Homey Cloud’s current features and price.
Homey Bridge
Homey Bridge was listed at $69 in the U.S. and adds wireless connectivity for Homey Cloud, including Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth and infrared. It is not the right choice for U.S. buyers who specifically require 433 MHz support, which Homey flags as disabled in that market.
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Homey Pro was listed at $449 in the U.S. It is aimed at enthusiasts who want local-first operation, broad protocol support, local app execution, community apps, Advanced Flow, dashboards and energy features without a required subscription. The cost is difficult to justify for a casual user with only a few Matter or Wi-Fi devices.
Homey Pro mini
Homey Pro mini was listed at $249 in the U.S. It offers a lower-cost entry to local Homey automation, but buyers should check the official comparison for the exact radio and feature differences before matching it to a particular device collection. Homey product and app information
Homey Self-Hosted Server
Homey Self-Hosted Server is intended for technically capable users running compatible hardware such as a Raspberry Pi, Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Proxmox, TrueNAS, QNAP, Synology or Unraid. The listed price was free for the first month, followed by $4.99 per month or a $149 lifetime license. It offers flexibility but requires users to maintain their own server environment. Homey Self-Hosted Server
All prices above are U.S. figures observed on August 18, 2026. Taxes, shipping, stock and regional availability may differ.
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- Whether LG confirms completion of the remaining 20% purchase.
- Which Homey integrations become available directly inside ThinQ or ThinQ ON.
- Whether Homey remains equally open to competing appliance brands.
- How LG handles data, cloud accounts, APIs and local control.
- Whether new LG products include Homey technology without requiring a separate Homey hub.
- Which features remain limited by region, device protocol or community-app support.
For comparison, Samsung SmartThings, Home Assistant, Apple Home, Google Home and Hubitat represent different trade-offs in local control, cloud dependence, device breadth, automation complexity and ecosystem integration. The right choice depends less on ownership headlines than on the protocols, devices and level of maintenance required in a particular home.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: LG bought an 80% stake in Athom to accelerate ThinQ’s move from an LG-appliance platform toward a broader smart home. The strategic logic is clear, but the consumer payoff depends on whether LG preserves Homey’s openness and makes its integrations genuinely available through ThinQ. Until that happens, treat Homey as an independent platform and buy it for its current features—not for an integration that remains only partially verified.
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