From what I saw you can still purchase external radios for Green if you want to...
2 Likes
True -- I was under the impression stuey was looking at a box-to-box capes/price comparison. The SkyNet dongle is something like $30 IIRC.
2 Likes
At least virtual switches created in HA and exposed to HE via HADB are bidirectional.
1 Like
Oh wow guys, this short thread has pretty much cemented my questions.
So go with yellow because it has a ZigBee radio and also I can create dashboards in HA from HE data
. Big thanks to @sburke781 and @JasonJoel for clarity.
Appreciated as ever and thank you
3 Likes
If you get HA Yellow and want Z-Wave too, you can get an Aeotec Z-Pi 7 or Zooz ZAC93, both of which have similar form factor and fit on the connector inside the HA Yellow case. Both work fine, the ZAC93 is Z-Wave 800 LR.
3 Likes
Just to make sure everything is crystal clear...
The Hubitat Community created HADB integration, allows HA devices/entities to be brought into Hubitat Elevation. The communication between the two systems is fully bi-directional. In other words, Hubitat could control a light switch device that only exists in Home Assistant. This integration requires no custom code on the HA side of things.
The HACS-Hubitat integration, allows HE devices/entities to be brought into Home Assistant. The communication between the two systems is fully bi-directional. There is no custom code required on the Hubitat side, but one does need to install and configure an instance of the Hubitat Maker API app on the HE hub.
It is important to no create a loop using the above two integrations at the same time. This could result in a very messy situation! 
As for the big differences between HA Yellow and Green...
- the cost of the HA Green + SkyConnect Zigbee USB Dongle is $100 + $30 = $130
- the cost of the HA Yellow + comparable RPi CM4 (4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC) module is about $194 for the nonPoE version, or $205 with PoE
The HA Yellow, as previously mentioned, already includes an onboard version of the SkyConnect Zigbee module. As @672southmain mentioned, one can also easily add Z-Wave inside the HA Yellow's case. I have the Zooz ZAC93 module happily tucked inside.
The other big advantage of the HA Yellow is the option for using an NVME solid state drive. I personally boot my HA Yellow directly off of a 1TB NVME drive. This means no wear and tear on a smallish 16-32GB eMMC drive. I personally run multiple HA Add-Ons, like InfluxDB, Grafana, Node-RED, NUT, etc... on my Yellow. Having an NVME drive brings peace of mind that all of the constant writes generated by InfluxDB are not going to wear out a smaller eMMC drive.
Finally, depending on the RPi CM4 module you decide to use on the HA Yellow, it is possible to use Bluetooth and/or WiFi. I would personally not recommend using WiFi to connect a HA Yellow to your home network. Ethernet is a much better choice. Neither Bluetooth or WiFi are built in to the HA Green.
The HA Green is trivial to get up and running, though. Plug in Ethernet, plug in power and then you're up and running. The HA Yellow, if bought as a kit, requires a little more work to get HAOS loaded on the board, especially if you're trying to boot directly from an NVME drive. It is not difficult, but also nowhere near as plug and play as the HA Green.
Both devices support HA's implementation of Matter. Matter uses IPv6 behind the scenes for all device communications. Matter over Thread does require a Thread Border Router device, which HA can sort of achieve using the SkyConnect module. But please do not try to use that module as both Zigbee and Thread at the same time. Most users have reported problems over the past year attempting that. Best to keep your Zigbee radio separate from your Thread radio. If you have a recent Google Home hub, Amazon Echo 4, Apple HomePod Mini, or Apple TV 4K (certain models), then you already have a device that can take on the role of Thread Border Router. This is exactly how Hubitat's Matter implementation currently works for Matter over Thread devices.
Hope this helps... probably more than you asked for, but I figure this might help others trying to make a similar decision.
I use Hubitat for my Zigbee devices, Lutron devices, Philips Hue devices, and all of my Rules/Automations. My HA Yellow is used for integrating devices that cannot be added directly to HE, and also to run other always on services like InfluxDB, Grafana, and Node-RED. Having both is really the best of both worlds. Good luck and have fun!
15 Likes
Such insight into everything. This is really helpful and answers more than I could imagine. Such a minefield for the average guy. However, I'm confident I can pick this up and run with it. Thanks again to everyone 
2 Likes
May I point out that since HA is seen here as an addon to HE, there is no need for radio on the HA device as HE allready have those. As for Thread, most big company assistant devices have it onbord. Only one Thread border device is needed. There is no point of having an extra Thread radio on HA.
1 Like
That's a good point and thanks for this. I was thinking in the longer term of moving my Aqara devices onto HA as they're hit and miss on HE. Are they more stable on HA?
I believe Aqara Zigbee devices can exhibit problems on any Zigbee controller, other than those made by Aqara. What Home Assistant may offer, however, is a much wider range of Zigbee Controller options to choose from, as well as both ZHA and Zigbe2MQTT to use with those controllers. Users can probably find a combination of Zigbee Controller, plus integration software, plus Zigbee repeaters that work well with Aqara's non-standard Zigbee implementation. With Hubitat, one has fewer options to choose from, with the biggest option being the proper choice of Zigbee repeaters.
Another option that may help to resolve the Aqara issues, is the potential to use an Aqara Zigbee Hub as a Matter Bridge. This would keep the Aqara Zigbee products all on their own vendor's Zigbee mesh network, yet still allow those devices to be added to Matter Controllers (like Hubitat's C8, Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Home Assistant.) I am not sure how viable an option this is at this point in time.
3 Likes
I’m not saying you are wrong but a year or maybe a year and a half now I put all my aqara devices (16 of them) on a separate c5 with a few tradfri repeaters and they have been 100% solid and excellent on batteries.
1 Like
Yep, I agree that the magic combination of Zigbee controller chip, Zigbee software stack, and Zigbee repeaters can create an Aqara friendly Zigbee mesh network. I am glad to hear you found a combination that has been working well for you!
I know from my testing, that my Lowes Iris v2 (3210-L) outlets do not play well whatsoever with Aqara temp/humid and vibration sensors. This was true on my C3, C5, C7, and C8 Hubitat hubs. However, since I have so many other Iris v2 motion, contact, and leak sensors - I am not willing to change my Zigbee repeaters as my Zigbee mesh has been rock solid for years. It definitely can help having all devices from a single vendor. 
3 Likes
Oh I hear you. When I had them on my main zigbee mesh I thought I fixed the problems by removing three ST outlets leaving mostly sonoff outlets in place at that time. But I still experienced random disconnects. It could have been the sonoff - most of them are gone now and replaced with Sengled and thirdreality - but I am not going to upset a working solution to try them again. They are definitely “unique” and have to be treated with kid gloves.
1 Like
Hi there at @ogiewon I've managed to get HEDB working but I can't seem to get my head around HACS . Please could you sign post me or offer instructions on how to accomplish this. I understand Maker API in HE but have no idea on what to do next.
Do I need a HACS code for HA, please could you advise In a little more detail... Appreciated....Stu
1 Like
Follow the guide below to install HACS on Home Assistant.
And then follow the guide at
5 Likes
@ogiewon it's taken me while to get my head around this but I've got there. You're a superstar. Much appreciated for your help. Amazing!
2 Likes
Glad to hear!
Hi,
can you explain how to go about reading hubitat
See this post just a couple above yours for details on how to bring Hubitat devices into Home Assistant
4 Likes
