I was jumping for joy until I read this part.
This one of the major reasons I'm migrating off of Hubitat and on to Home Assistant.
Had I known local backups didn't include zwave data in the first place I never would have bought into Hubitat.
Meh..
Hub Protect is going to include it and that is less than I pay for my yearly nabu casa subscription..... But each to their own. Seriously - I get subscription fatigue so am not judging. I'm just providing another perspective.
Edit: oh, and as a bonus tip - never install a .0 HA release. Go read how this month's 2026.9.0 release went. 
And this is coming from a long time HA (and hubitat 
) user.
it will be included for free with a Hub Protect subscription.
Totally agree! I view .3 as a minimum for HA.
I've been very successful just waiting for .1, but later is more stable by definition.
Why are you paying for Nabu Casa?
It's fairly easy to set up your own remote access.
Nabu Casa also gives you remote admin, Hubitat protect does not. Bundle HP with remote admin, and you're at about the same cost as Nabu Casa anyways.
Charging someone to backup their own data to their own servers is just wrong. This is not a value add service. This is purely a cash grab.
I would call it supporting the team who constantly add features and value, even on the older hardware they have sold. It takes a lot of time and iterations of firmware to get us to this point.
I am also with @JasonJoel, subscription fatigue is a thing. Hubitat is nowhere even close as bad as most of the apps and services I use daily. I have an app that has now added a popup to upgrade to "premium" that happens every time you go forward and backward in the menus. Amazon has ads beyond the fees you pay every year. So do many of the streaming services now.
Would you be happier if Hubitat charged for firmware updates? Or for Homekit, or Matter instead of backup data?
Thanks for your feedback. This latest update, like any other update, is free, and 100% optional. You do not have to update and you will never know that Backup Plus feature even exists. You can continue using your hub exactly as you do today without encountering any references, prompts, or advertisements for the additional paid service anywhere on your hub.
I wanted cloud backups. Yes I easily could have done that myself, but I firmly believe in supporting products I use a lot. If no one supports, then the projects die (eventually). I've seen it 100x in the OSS space.
You are of course entitled to your opinion, and have every right to vote with your wallet. I do it all the time myself.
Or they Wink it , or go the Mi Casa Verde's way and let Ezlo mandate a subscription. Hubitat users, just as Home Assistant users, support the company without being forced to do it. And for that we are grateful 