The Best Smart Home Devices Under $25 in 2023
There\'s a persistent myth that building a smart home requires a serious investment. And sure, if you want a Lutron Caseta system with a dozen dimmers, you\'re looking at real money. But some of the most useful smart home devices cost less than a pizza dinner. Here are my picks for the best smart home gadgets you can get for under $25 in 2023, with honest opinions on each.
Wyze Plug — $8
The Wyze Plug is absurdly cheap for what it does. For eight dollars, you get a WiFi smart plug that works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and the Wyze app. It supports scheduling, timers, and vacation mode (random on/off to make it look like someone\'s home). The physical footprint is compact enough that it won\'t block the second outlet.
The downside? No energy monitoring at this price, and you\'re locked into the Wyze ecosystem for automations. There\'s also no HomeKit support. But for turning a lamp or fan on and off with your voice, it\'s hard to argue with $8. I have four of these on floor lamps and they\'ve been rock solid for over a year.
TP-Link Kasa KP125 Smart Plug — $13
If you want energy monitoring, step up to the Kasa KP125. At $13, it adds real-time power consumption tracking, which is surprisingly useful. I used one to figure out that an old mini fridge was costing me $15/month in electricity — replacing it paid for itself in weeks.
The Kasa app is one of the better smart home apps out there, with clean design and reliable scheduling. Works with Alexa and Google Assistant. No HomeKit support natively, but Matter support is supposedly coming via firmware update in 2023. The KP125 is my go-to recommendation for anyone\'s first smart plug.
Kasa EP10 Mini Plug — $8
TP-Link\'s budget option, the EP10, drops the energy monitoring but shrinks the form factor even further. It\'s one of the smallest smart plugs on the market, which matters when you\'re dealing with tight outlet spacing. Same Kasa app, same Alexa and Google support.
I use these for seasonal stuff — the Christmas tree, a window candle, a box fan in summer. At $8 each, I don\'t think twice about buying one for a single-purpose use. They frequently drop to two-packs for $13 on Amazon.
Amazon Echo Pop — $18 (on sale)
Amazon launched the Echo Pop in 2023 at $39.99, but it regularly hits $17.99 during sales, and I expect it\'ll be a permanent fixture at that price within months. It\'s a half-sphere design with a forward-firing speaker that sounds better than you\'d expect for the size.
As a smart home controller, the Echo Pop punches way above its price. Alexa is still the best voice assistant for smart home control, with the widest device compatibility and the most sophisticated routine builder. Having a $18 Alexa device in every room of your house is the cheapest way to get whole-home voice control.
It\'s not great for music — the single speaker is tinny at higher volumes — but for voice commands, timers, weather, and smart home control, it\'s outstanding value.
Philips Hue Smart Button — $20
If you have Philips Hue bulbs, the Smart Button is almost mandatory. It\'s a small magnetic button that mounts anywhere and gives you physical control over your Hue lights without reaching for your phone. Tap for on/off, hold to dim. You can assign different scenes to different press patterns through the Hue app.
The magnetic mount is clever — the button pops off the base plate so you can carry it around as a remote. I have one on my nightstand that\'s not even mounted; it just sits there as a bedside light controller. Battery lasts about two years with a standard CR2032.
The limitation is that it only works within the Hue ecosystem. If you\'re running mixed-brand smart lights, look at an Aqara or IKEA button instead.
SwitchBot Bot — $15 (on sale)
This is one of the most underrated smart home gadgets. The SwitchBot Bot is a tiny motorized arm that physically presses a button or flips a switch. It sounds ridiculous, but it solves a real problem: what about devices that aren\'t smart? A coffee maker with a physical switch. A garage wall button. A space heater with a dial.
The Bot attaches with adhesive tape and can be triggered via the SwitchBot app, Alexa, Google Assistant, or automations. Regular price is around $29, but it frequently drops to $15 during sales. You do need the SwitchBot Hub Mini ($19) for voice assistant integration, which pushes the total cost above $25 — but the Bot itself is a clever solution for a very specific problem.
Govee LED Strip Lights (16.4ft) — $15
Govee has basically cornered the market on affordable smart LED strips, and their basic 16.4-foot WiFi strip at $15 is the one to get if you\'re starting out. It does 16 million colors, works with Alexa and Google Assistant, and has a music sync mode that\'s surprisingly responsive.
I have one behind my TV for bias lighting and another under my kitchen cabinets. The adhesive backing holds well on clean surfaces, and the Govee app offers dozens of preset scenes plus custom color programming. The color accuracy isn\'t as good as Philips Hue Lightstrip ($80+), but at one-fifth the price, it doesn\'t need to be.
ThermoPro TP49 Digital Hygrometer — $10
Okay, this one isn\'t technically "smart" — it has no WiFi or Bluetooth. But I\'m including it because it solves a problem that smart home enthusiasts often overlook: knowing the baseline conditions in your rooms before automating them. The TP49 shows temperature and humidity with a comfort level indicator, and it\'s accurate to within 1°F.
Put one in each room for a week before you set up smart thermometer automations. You\'ll learn which rooms run hot, which are drafty, and where humidity is an issue. That data makes your smart thermostat and fan automations vastly more effective. At $10, it\'s the cheapest smart home investment you can make, even without a WiFi chip.
Honorable Mentions
- IKEA TRADFRI Shortcut Button ($8) — Works with the IKEA Home Smart hub to trigger scenes. Cheap and cheerful.
- Wyze Motion Sensor ($6) — Requires Wyze Bridge, but at $6 per sensor, it\'s the most affordable way to add motion-triggered automations.
- Amazon Smart Plug ($25) — Nothing special feature-wise, but it has built-in Alexa support without needing a separate Echo device, which is neat.
Where to Start
If I were building a smart home from scratch with a $50 budget, I\'d buy a Kasa KP125 smart plug ($13), an Amazon Echo Pop on sale ($18), and a Govee LED strip ($15). That gives you voice control, energy monitoring, and ambiance for under fifty bucks. Everything else can come later.
The point is that you don\'t need to wait until you can afford a full smart home system. Start with one plug, one voice assistant, and build from there. The best smart home is the one you actually use, and these budget devices are surprisingly good at their jobs.