SmartThings API Goes Paid in October 2026: Will Home Assistant Stop Working, and Should You Pay $4.99?
Short answer: Samsung is ending free SmartThings API access starting in October 2026. The SmartThings app itself stays free. Anything that talks to SmartThings through the API is affected, and Home Assistant’s SmartThings integration is the big one. That access moves to a $4.99-a-month Personal Plan, about $60 a year. Samsung still hasn’t published the exact usage limits. If only a few devices need the bridge, moving them to local Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Matter control is usually cheaper than paying.
Your SmartThings app won’t change this month. Your Home Assistant dashboard might.
Back on June 23, 2026, Samsung’s SmartThings blog announced that free API access would stay available through the third quarter, with paid commercial tiers and a $4.99-per-month Personal Plan for individual developers targeting October 2026. Q3 ended on September 30. So this is the month the change lands.
For most people with a Samsung TV and a few SmartThings sensors, nothing happens. For anyone who pipes SmartThings devices into Home Assistant, a dashboard, or a homemade script, there’s a decision to make: pay, move the devices, or wait and see.
Contents
- Who Actually Has to Pay for the SmartThings API?
- Will Home Assistant’s SmartThings Integration Stop Working?
- What Are the SmartThings Personal Plan Limits?
- How Do You Check Whether Your Setup Depends on the API?
- Pay $4.99 or Move Your Devices? The Options Compared
- How Do You Move SmartThings Devices to Local Control?
- Tips
- Warnings
- FAQ
- Sources
Who Actually Has to Pay for the SmartThings API?
The SmartThings API fee applies to developers and integrations that access SmartThings through its API, not to people who only use the SmartThings app; Samsung’s June 2026 announcement says the change “does not affect the millions of SmartThings users who use the SmartThings App.”
That line matters. If you open the SmartThings app, tap a light, and run routines there, you’re fine.
The people affected fall into three groups:
- Home Assistant users with the official SmartThings integration set up.
- Dashboard and automation app users who connected a third-party tool to their SmartThings account.
- Tinkerers running their own scripts with a SmartThings personal access token.
Commercial partners get separate paid tiers. Samsung hasn’t published prices for those, and it asks business partners to contact it directly.
Will Home Assistant’s SmartThings Integration Stop Working?
Home Assistant’s SmartThings integration documentation now states that Samsung will phase out free SmartThings API access starting in October 2026, after which access requires the paid Personal Plan at $4.99 per month.
So yes, it’s in scope. Home Assistant isn’t guessing here; the warning is on its own integration page.
When I checked that page, I noticed that the integration is classed as “Cloud Push.” It gets device updates through Samsung’s cloud, not over your local network. There’s no local fallback built into it. If Samsung’s API stops answering for your account, the SmartThings entities in Home Assistant go unavailable.
Coverage of the announcement also quoted Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen saying the integration “will fall under their new ‘personal plans'” and calling it “yet another cloud paywall.”
What isn’t clear yet is how gradual it’ll be. Samsung said usage limits wouldn’t apply before October. It didn’t say they’d all switch on October 1.
What Are the SmartThings Personal Plan Limits?
As of early October 2026, Samsung has published the SmartThings Personal Plan price, $4.99 per month, but not the usage limits that trigger it, overage rules, or exactly what each tier includes.
That’s the frustrating gap. You’re being asked to decide without knowing the line.
When I compared the coverage from Android Authority, Hackaday, and Gadget Hacks, I found that none of them could cite a specific call limit either. Every report points back to the same Samsung blog post. Samsung’s one concrete tool is a new API Usage Dashboard in the Developer Center for tracking call volume.
A practical read: if your integration is light (a handful of sensors), you might sit under a free threshold, if one exists. If you have 60 devices reporting constantly, assume you’ll need the plan.
How Do You Check Whether Your Setup Depends on the API?
To see whether your smart home depends on the SmartThings API, list every place you control SmartThings devices from outside the SmartThings app, such as Home Assistant, dashboards, or scripts with a personal access token, because each of those is an API user.
Ten minutes. Do it before something breaks.
- Open Home Assistant and go to Settings > Devices & services. If SmartThings appears there, note how many devices and entities it provides.
- Check your automations for any that use SmartThings entities. Those are what will fail silently.
- Look at linked services in the SmartThings app for third-party tools you connected years ago.
- Find personal access tokens in the SmartThings developer account if you ever wrote your own scripts.
- Sort the devices by radio type. Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, or Wi-Fi cloud devices like a Samsung TV or fridge. This decides your options below.
Most people discover it’s only a handful of devices doing real work.
Pay $4.99 or Move Your Devices? The Options Compared
For a Home Assistant user facing the October 2026 SmartThings API change, the choice is between paying $59.88 a year for the Personal Plan or moving devices to local control, and the cheaper route depends mostly on what radio each device uses.
| Option | Yearly cost | Works for | Effort | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay for the Personal Plan | $59.88 ($4.99 × 12) | Everything, including Samsung TVs and appliances | Low | Limits still unpublished; still cloud-dependent |
| Move Zigbee devices to Home Assistant (ZHA) | One-time cost of a USB Zigbee adapter | Zigbee sensors, plugs, bulbs | Medium (re-pair each device) | Routines in SmartThings must be rebuilt |
| Move Z-Wave devices to Home Assistant | One-time cost of a Z-Wave adapter | Z-Wave locks, switches | Medium to high (exclude, then include) | Locks need secure re-pairing |
| Share Matter devices to Home Assistant | $0 | Matter-certified devices | Low (multi-admin pairing code) | Only works for Matter devices |
| Drop the integration | $0 | Devices you only control in the SmartThings app anyway | Low | Lose cross-platform automations |
Table: our comparison based on Samsung’s June 23, 2026 SmartThings blog announcement and Home Assistant’s integration documentation, checked October 4, 2026. Adapter prices vary by model and retailer.
Samsung TVs, washers, and fridges are the exception. They’re cloud devices, so there’s no local path. If you need those in Home Assistant, the plan is the only clean option.
How Do You Move SmartThings Devices to Local Control?
Moving a Zigbee or Z-Wave device off SmartThings means removing it from the SmartThings hub and pairing it directly to a Zigbee or Z-Wave adapter connected to Home Assistant, while Matter devices can be shared to Home Assistant without leaving SmartThings.
Here’s where people get tripped up: do it in batches, not all at once.
- Start with Matter devices. In the SmartThings app, open the device and use its option to share with another Matter controller, then add it in Home Assistant’s Matter integration with the pairing code. The device stays in SmartThings too.
- Add a Zigbee or Z-Wave adapter to Home Assistant if you don’t have one, and set up the ZHA or Z-Wave integration.
- Remove one device from SmartThings, then factory-reset it per the maker’s instructions.
- Pair it to Home Assistant, rename it to match the old entity, and fix any automations that used it.
- Repeat in small groups, mains-powered devices first. They act as Zigbee repeaters and make the battery ones pair more easily.
Honestly, a weekend is enough for most homes under 30 devices. If Matter pairing gives you trouble, our Matter pairing checklist covers the common blockers.
Tips
- Back up Home Assistant before removing the SmartThings integration. Settings > System > Backups.
- Write down each device’s SmartThings name and room before you unpair it. Re-pairing goes faster with a list.
- If you decide to pay, check Samsung’s new API Usage Dashboard after a week to see your real call volume.
- Keep the SmartThings hub running as a backup controller until the move is finished.
Warnings
- Don’t factory-reset a Z-Wave lock until you know you can re-pair it securely. You could be left with a lock that only works by key.
- Automations that used SmartThings entities may fail without an error. Test the important ones, like leak and smoke alerts, after any change.
- Samsung hasn’t published the usage limits. Plans and prices could still change after launch.
- Be careful with “free local bridge” add-ons from unknown sources. They get access to your whole smart home.
FAQ
Do I need to pay if I only use the SmartThings app?
No. Samsung says the API change does not affect people who use the SmartThings app with Works with SmartThings devices. The fee is for API access by integrations and developers.
When exactly does the SmartThings API fee start?
Samsung said free access would continue through the third quarter of 2026 and that paid plans were targeting October 2026. It has not announced a single cutoff date for every account.
Can I keep Samsung TV and appliance control in Home Assistant without paying?
Probably not long term. Samsung TVs and appliances connect through Samsung’s cloud, so there is no local Zigbee or Z-Wave path for them. Keeping them in Home Assistant depends on API access.
Sources
- SmartThings Blog — A New Enhanced SmartThings API Experience (June 23, 2026)
- Home Assistant — SmartThings integration documentation
- Home Assistant — Matter integration documentation
- Android Authority — Samsung SmartThings API fees could impact your favorite smart home apps
🔗 Related guides
Fact-checked against Samsung’s SmartThings blog, Home Assistant’s integration documentation, and Android Authority’s coverage as of October 4, 2026. Prices are as announced by Samsung and may change; usage limits had not been published at the time of writing.
