Samsung says it will begin charging for SmartThings API access in October, introducing a $5 monthly plan for non-commercial individual developers. Regular users of the SmartThings app won’t be affected, but people using third-party tools like Home Assistant—an
Samsung’s SmartThings platform has long lived in the space between big-brand convenience and tinkerer control. Now, the company is drawing a new line—one that could end up in everyday users’ monthly bills.
Starting in October, Samsung will begin charging for SmartThings API access. The company’s plan is a $5 monthly tier for “non-commercial individual developers.”
For people using the traditional SmartThings app to control the thousands of gadgets that work with the platform, the fee won’t apply. The impact lands elsewhere: on users who control Samsung-connected devices through third-party tools such as Home Assistant.
That means the change is not just about software developers and commercial partners. Home Assistant users and others who rely on similar third-party automation tools could be forced to pay for access if their setups depend on the SmartThings API.
It may also land on people building custom smart home controls. With this coming $5 plan, some users could see another recurring subscription layer added to their existing ecosystem—yet another monthly payment tied to the way their home technology talks to the cloud.
Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen didn’t mince words. “We’re all for choice, but feel very disappointed that users will have to decide whether to shell out for access in the shadow of yet another cloud paywall,” he wrote in a blog post.
Samsung says the money will be used to “invest heavily in the enterprise-grade features our partners and users have been asking for.” But the company hasn’t spelled out exactly what those features will be or what changes users can expect. The only specifics offered are broad: new integrations and expanded capabilities of some kind.
There’s also mention of a new Developer Center hub coming “down the pike,” designed to provide “current usage and data points to optimize” code.
For now, access to the SmartThings API remains free—at least until October arrives. After that, the shift is clear: the same smart home ecosystem that once felt open to community-driven tooling may start asking those tools’ users to pay to keep things running.
Samsung SmartThings API access smart home Home Assistant third-party tools subscriptions developers cloud paywall