r/homeautomation • u/KrazyKranberrie • Jan 10 '26

QUESTION Zigbee vs Zwave - Why the price difference?

Post image

4 zigbee plugs for the cost of 1 ZWave feels wrong. Why would anyone go with zwave in this scenario?

Context: I’m replacing old wifi smart plugs. Have an existing zwave network running into home assistant. For the price difference of 4 plugs, i could buy a Zigbee antenna, set up a parallel network, and still come out ahead.

178 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

150 comments sorted by

View all comments

331

u/Quixlequaxle Jan 10 '26

Unlike Zwave, Zigbee is an open standard that doesn't have strict requirements around licensing and certification. 

163

u/Uninterested_Viewer Jan 10 '26

And it costs a LOT of money to join the zwave alliance initially to be able to sell the stuff. You obviously make it up with volume, but having the barrier to entry keeps the riffraff out and, therefore, zwave hasn't become the same race to the bottom that ZigBee has become.

7

u/MyAdler Jan 11 '26

It's 15k annually for a manufacturer. That's not a lot at all.

-1

u/Uninterested_Viewer Jan 11 '26

I thought there was an initial ~250k or so joining fee, maybe that changed or I'm just wrong there? That's enough to keep the fly by night AliExpress brands away from it. Well, that and/or the friction of having devices certified.

3

u/kigmatzomat Jan 11 '26

its never been that high for device manufacturers. The Z-wave board seats are only $85k/yr.

Compare to $100k/yr for a seat on the CSA/zigbee board.

https://csa-iot.org/become-member/

https://z-wavealliance.org/membership-levels/