Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we're renaming ours

Big Tech has tarnished the reputation of cloud services, leading to the rebranding of Nabu Casa's Home Assistant Cloud as I. Carl, Vice President of Commercial at Nabu Casa, explains the reasoning behind the change. The original cloud service aimed to make Home Assistant more accessible and sustainable, but the name did not accurately represent its purpose.

The cloud is often associated with subscription prices, outages, and data harvesting, which is why I believes Home Assistant Link is a more fitting name. Home Assistant Cloud was created to support the Open Home Foundation and fund the development of Home Assistant, ensuring the project remains sustainable and community-driven. By not requiring Link to use the platform, users can continue using Home Assistant without subscribing, and their smart home will still function.

Home Assistant Link offers additional benefits, such as encrypted data storage and support for various smart home devices. The service emphasizes privacy, transparency, and not locking users into a particular system, while also providing real human support for users who need assistance.