The main options
- Philips Hue Bridge (or Bridge Pro): a Zigbee hub with a local API and an app. Signify's Matter page says the Bridge and Bridge Pro support Matter, and that Hue products connected through the bridge work with Matter. Home Assistant has a native Hue integration. Best for people who mostly buy Hue products.
- Zigbee coordinator with Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA: a USB or network coordinator (see the Zigbee forum for coordinator advice) that pairs Zigbee devices from many brands directly with Home Assistant. No cloud, brand-agnostic, but you maintain it. The Zigbee2MQTT supported devices page lists which bulbs, remotes and sensors are supported.
- Matter (over Wi-Fi or Thread): bulbs that pair to Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa or Home Assistant. Newer, simpler for mixed ecosystems, but feature support varies between controllers.
- Vendor hubs from other brands: convenient if you stay in one brand, but check whether they have a local API and what happens if the vendor stops support. Lightify is the cautionary tale.
Lightify bulbs are Zigbee devices. Many people move them to a Zigbee coordinator running Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA, because it removes the dependency on the vendor. Before you buy a coordinator, search your exact bulb model on the Zigbee2MQTT supported devices list, and check the reset steps. Mixed networks work better with mains-powered bulbs and plugs acting as routers. Some people also report adding third-party Zigbee bulbs to a Hue Bridge, but Signify limits what it officially supports, so verify before you rely on it.
Hue Bridge: what to know
- The newer square bridge is referred to as V2 and the older round one as V1. Home Assistant's documentation says the V1 bridge is end of life and no longer supported by Signify, and that Home Assistant will keep supporting it as long as technically possible, with limits (state polling rather than instant updates, no automatic scene entities).
- On V2 bridges, Home Assistant has instant updates and a scene select for each room and zone. Grouped light entities for rooms and zones exist but are disabled by default. Hue scenes are imported, and the docs recommend using Hue scenes to change many lights at once, since individual commands are sent one by one.
- Matter via the bridge is useful for exposing Hue to Apple, Google or Alexa. Home Assistant's own docs say the native Hue integration is preferred over Matter for Hue features. The Hue Play HDMI sync box and the dial on the Tap dial switch do not support Matter according to Signify, and Bluetooth-only Hue products cannot be used with Matter.
- Mostly Hue lights and you want it to just work: Hue Bridge, with the native Home Assistant integration.
- Mixed brands, many Zigbee devices, or leaving a dead hub: Zigbee coordinator with Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA.
- Mixed ecosystems with phone-first control: look at Matter bulbs, keeping in mind that you may lose advanced features such as dynamic scenes.
- Whatever you pick, keep your bulbs and hub on a trusted network, change the hub's default settings and avoid exposing it to the internet.
- Is there a local API or integration that works without the vendor's cloud?
- What is the maximum number of lights and accessories? Check the vendor's current limits.
- Is it Zigbee, Thread or Wi-Fi, and what happens with a firmware update?
- Can I move the bulbs to another hub later? Resetting is usually possible but tedious.
Question for the group: what did you replace Lightify with, and did your bulbs move across cleanly?