I am pretty certain that when the Zigbee or Z-Wave radio is turned off, the radio remains on, but the software stack is disabled, so the hub is not communicating with the radio. Of my hubs currently in use, my C-8 Pro does all Z-Wave and mission critical Zigbee devices, my C-8 just controls around 30 Zigbee lights that work well, but don’t necessarily play well with others, then I also have a C-5 with radios disabled and mostly cloud apps like Echo Speaks, that I like, but are resource intensive, and I don’t want taking down a hub if something goes awry.
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C8V (for virtual), ditch the box and sell me a VM or docker image. Then I can run any and all integrations in my server along side Home Assistant.
Then they could sell their box, radios, and virtual systems. Take my money already!
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As much as I love this idea (a container image would be great), I'm not sure Hubitat would see that as much of a revenue source, compared to just selling you the hub. The license to run it would have to be pretty pricey, probably about the same price as a hub, per instance, to make it worthwhile.
Seems bound to be hacked, too, and become a something you could just torrent and use for free. It works for HA because the software and license to use it are already free, but it would seem like a risky move for Hubitat without much benefit.
Staff have previously said it’ll never happen.
I’m sure anything is possible in the future but it seems pretty unlikely.
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Yup. It makes for a support nightmare. And the platform is Hubitat's IP, which I'm sure they're keen to protect.
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I'm running a C7, and it is plenty fast enough for my needs.
What would get me to buy a new Hubitat is if there were one with a Thread Border Router AND zigbee (and Zwave). I have plenty of Zigbee and Zwave devices that I want to leave alone. But I also am increasingly seeing devices that need a thread border router.
I'd prefer that to be in my Hubitat and native to it, but if there is no Hubitat version soon, I'll plunk down the cash to buy an Apple TV to be my TBR. Of course that would then delay upgrading the Hubitat....
This is what I am hoping for. I am really kind of getting tired of running all of my thread devices through AppleTV. That has been so finicky for me lately; it's getting almost as unbearable to use as the Hubitat native dashboards. In fact, the aesthetic is the only thing stopping a full switch back.
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What if they were to add the ability to do this through an add on USB stick (similar to how Home Assistant does). While I can see the advantages of having a thread border router on board, I just (so far) don't even want to get in on the whole thread thing. Almost everything I see on thread/matter is that it has limited capabilities in comparison to its counterparts on zigbee/Zwave. (For example, the Aqara FP300 has the ability to be either thread or zigbee. But in order to get all the options and settings, you need zigbee)
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Yup - Matter is still baking, only partly done. Hopefully it will finish baking at some point... 
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Hopefully, the middle doesn't fall and it doesn't get burnt
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Your point general stands; though, I personally wouldn't use Aqara as a shining example. They have a business case for preferring Zigbee compared to Thread. Zigbee generally means buying their hubs, which then requires their app, and all the goodies that their business can get from that setup. Going Thread/Matter means that Aqara gets none of that. Your overall point is generally true as Zigbee can offer more things via custom clusters. Matter devices can too via Mode Select; however, there is not that big of a push in that yet since none of the big players (Apple, Google, Amazon, Smartthings) really support them.
As for Hubitat adding a thread boarder router, I'm all in. Whether it is repurposing the radio on C8/C8Pro, a USB stick, or even a new box, I'll do it right away. I've embraced Matter and Thread in my Smart Home and prefer it to Zigbee and Zwave even with its quirks.
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That would be interesting. Especially if multiple of them could be used on the same matter fabric to extend coverage. I would have something useful to do with the stack of C8 Pros I have.
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Using Zigbee right now directly connected to HE with all the bells and whistles. You actually get LESS from connecting to their hub and joining the hub to HE over matter.
I am not all in for HE adding a thread radio/border router until and unless the ecosystem proves to be advantageous. Right now it is not and I would rather and spend my money on something that has enough maturity to know I won't be turning it off in a year or two.
Even if it is possible to repurpose the existing zigbee radio to be a thread radio, I think it becomes an either/or situation at that point unless a new radio is added. That may be an option for those set on using thread at the expense of zigbee.
I would rather have it as an add on option (for now) as opposed to buying something I don't really plan on using.
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Not necessarily...
The suggested option above would be a "best of both worlds" IMHO. Many of us here have secondary (and more, looking at you @csteele) C8/C8-Pro hubs and in many (most?) cases we don't need to run Zigbee on more than one hub. So the Zigbee radios on those extra hubs are going unused. Having a FW option to allow the unused Zigbee radios to be used for Thread makes those hubs/Zigbee radios useful again w/out any loss of fuctionality.
Win-Win. I'm all for it. If someone doesn't want/need Thread, don't enable it on any of their hubs. If they want it, enable it on one or more. We're all about choice around here. 
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I am probably in the minority here representing the SHH (Single Hub Household). I do run HA and could add a thread USB stick to that if it ever gets to the point where I see an actual benefit.
I'm aware your species does exist.
But we can fix that with a little peer pressure.
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Hubitat wouldn't require you to buy anything. Look how well they have kept up support for their older hubs. The C-8 Pro getting some of the newest bells and whistles are primarily related to the CPU and RAM upgrades rather than the underlying platform or anntenas. Hubitat will eventually add Thread support. It's the direction of where the big players are going. That does not mean they will stop supporting Zigbee or ZWave. It's add more choice to the platform and choice is a good thing.
The other reason they will eventually add Thread is that right now Hubitat is slower to process automations with thread devices compared to others. In my household (so evidence of one), Hubitat is slower than Smartthings and Apple to process the same automation with Inovelli White Dimmers and Hue Bulbs. It's the nature of how Thread works. Since both Apple and Smartthings are part of the same Thread Network, they respond faster. Hubitat has to wait for a Boarder Router to pass them the information. Now, we are talking half second or so difference, so not a lot, but Hubitat formally joining the thread network would speed things up.
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I'm a single hub household; though, I do have a currently unused C8. What @danabw and @aaiyar suggested, utilizing an unused C8/C8 Pro, is exactly what I would do.
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the problerm is see with that is the zwave radio.. hubitat does not actually disable the radios when you disable it is settings.. so it is still idling in the backround potentially causing interference.. so if you use a second hubs radio say for only matter, there still is the zwave radio idling in the background.. wondering if they ever will truly disable it when requested.
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