Alternatives to Google Home
By App Store Tracker Editorial · Updated — live App Store data verified
The short version
Google Home controls smart-home devices and Gemini for Home from your phone, showing your home at a glance. The alternatives split into full smart-home platforms and brand-specific control apps. Home Assistant stands out for privacy-focused, vendor-neutral control with a high rating. Homey is another strong cross-brand hub. Several picks are tied to specific device makers like Gosund or Home Connect. Your best choice depends on whether you want a universal hub or just to control one brand's gear.
The app you searched for
Google LLC
People look for a Google Home alternative when they want broader device support, more powerful automations, stronger privacy, or simply a control app for hardware Google doesn't cover well. The picks here connect to Google Home's core job: controlling and monitoring smart-home devices, lights, plugs, and appliances from one app. Some are full platforms that unify many brands; others control a single manufacturer's products. We ranked them by embedding similarity to Google Home, then weighed live App Store ratings and review themes. We flag which apps are universal hubs versus brand-locked controllers, plus a couple of Google-adjacent apps, so you can match the app to the devices you actually own.
Why it's similar
Google Gemini is closely tied to Google Home, which now centers on Gemini for Home, and shares Google's assistant intelligence with a large, well-rated base. Both bring Google's AI into your daily routine.
How it differs
Gemini is a conversational AI assistant, not a device-control dashboard, so it answers questions and helps with tasks rather than running your lights and plugs. It complements Google Home's smart-home control rather than replacing it.
Why it's similar
GHome-Smart Living shares Google Home's device-control purpose, letting you operate smart sockets, bulbs, and accessories from your phone. Both put home gadgets under one app.
How it differs
GHome is locked to GabbaGoods products rather than Google Home's broad ecosystem, and its rating is lower with a small base. It controls one brand's gear, so it's useful only if you own those devices, not as a universal Google Home replacement.
Why it's similar
Home Assistant is a standout alternative: a powerful, privacy-focused smart-home platform that controls and automates devices on the go, with a high rating. Both unify many smart-home products in one app.
How it differs
Home Assistant is open and vendor-neutral with deep local control and automations, which means more setup than Google Home's plug-and-play simplicity. It's the pick for privacy and power users willing to configure their own hub.
Why it's similar
The Google app shares Google Home's Google ecosystem and assistant ties, with a massive, well-rated user base for search and AI answers. Both connect you to Google's services.
How it differs
The Google app is for search, discovery, and AI overviews, not controlling smart-home devices. It overlaps only through Google's account and assistant, so it doesn't manage your lights or appliances the way Google Home does.
Why it's similar
Gome is built specifically to control Google Home devices from your iPhone, with multi-device switching. Both center on operating your Google smart-home hardware.
How it differs
Gome is a third-party remote rather than Google's official app, with a lower rating and paid features. It mirrors basic control but lacks Google Home's full setup, Gemini integration, and polish, so it's a niche companion rather than a replacement.
Shenzhen Gosund Technology Co., Ltd.
Why it's similar
GHome work with Gosund shares Google Home's device-control role and even works alongside it, managing appliances in the cloud with a large, highly rated base. Both let you remote-control and schedule home devices.
How it differs
This app is tied to Gosund and NiteBird products rather than Google Home's broad ecosystem. It's a strong brand-specific controller, so it fits owners of those devices but won't unify your whole home like Google Home aims to.
Why it's similar
Homey shares Google Home's hub ambition: control, automate, and monitor all your devices from one app wherever you are. Both want to be the center of your smart home.
How it differs
Homey is a cross-brand platform with deeper automation and energy tools, often paired with its own bridge hardware, rather than Google Home's free, Google-centric simplicity. Its smaller base and paid model suit enthusiasts wanting more powerful, brand-agnostic control.
Why it's similar
App for Home Mini for Google is designed to improve the Google Home experience, helping you get more from Google smart speakers. Both revolve around Google's home devices.
How it differs
It's a third-party helper app with a modest rating, offering tips and extra controls rather than Google's official, full-featured hub. It supplements Google Home for specific speakers rather than serving as a complete device-control platform.
Why it's similar
Home Connect shares Google Home's appliance-control purpose, managing smart kitchen and home appliances conveniently from your phone. Both bring household devices into one app.
How it differs
Home Connect is limited to BSH-family appliances like Bosch and Siemens, not Google Home's broad device support. It's a brand-specific controller with a solid base, fitting owners of those appliances rather than a whole-home hub.
Why it's similar
GT-LITE Smart Home matches Google Home's remote-control idea: operate home appliances from anywhere, control multiple devices, and set timers. Both centralize device control on your phone.
How it differs
GT-LITE is tied to GT Industrial's own products and has a low rating with a tiny base, far less proven than Google Home. It controls one brand's gear, so it suits those device owners rather than acting as a universal smart-home app.
Every app in our database carries a dense vector embedding derived from its title, subtitle, full description, and category metadata. To find apps similar to Google Home, we compute cosine distance against every other app and surface the closest 60 candidates. The similarity score shown on each pick is 1 - distance/2 clamped to [0,1] — 100% means the embedding spaces are identical, 0% means orthogonal.
We then re-rank the candidate set using current App Store rating and review-count signals so a 4.8-star app with 100,000 reviews ranks above a 4.5-star app with 200 reviews even when their embedding distance is similar. Apps that haven't shipped an update in 12 months are filtered out before re-ranking.
The similarity cache is recomputed weekly. Live App Store data (rating, review count) is verified every 6 hours.
No paid placements. No affiliate links. No sponsored picks. Read our full methodology.
More popular iPhone apps with curated alternative lists, each ranked by embedding similarity, rating, and category fit.
