What to look for in a smart washing machine
Cleaning performance first. Which? is blunt that the app is a convenience and that cleaning results from its lab tests should drive the choice. A machine that smartly starts a poor wash is still a poor machine, so check tested reviews before you check the app.
An official Home Assistant integration. Home Assistant documents integrations for Miele, Home Connect (Bosch and Siemens), LG ThinQ and SmartThings (Samsung). Beko, Candy, Hoover, Hisense and Haier machines may have a good app, but we found no official Home Assistant integration for them, so treat any community workaround as unsupported.
Remote start, not just notifications. The entities that matter are a remote-start flag, a program selector, a finish time and a "cycle complete" event. Support differs by brand, which the comparison table below sets out.
A long software-support window. A washing machine lasts about 11 years by Which?'s estimate, but connected-app support can be far shorter. Which? lists Beko at 31 December 2028, Hisense around two years from purchase, LG at least five years from launch, Samsung at least seven years from launch, Miele about ten years after discontinuation and Bosch (BSH) until at least 28 February 2034.
Which smart washing machine brands work with Home Assistant?
Four brands have an official integration, and they differ in what they expose. All four are listed as cloud push, so a dead internet connection or a manufacturer outage cuts Home Assistant off.
| Brand / integration | Setup | Washer controls and sensors | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miele | Miele account; appliance linked in the Miele app | Start, pause and stop buttons; programme actions | Most appliances need mobile start or remote control switched on at the machine; newer washer-dryers lacked API endpoints when the docs were written |
| Bosch / Siemens (Home Connect) | Developer account and application credentials | Programme select, options, finish-time sensor, pause/resume/stop, start selected programme | Fiddly OAuth setup; no remaining-time sensor, only finish time while running |
| LG ThinQ | Personal access token from your LG account | Start/pause, remote-start status, delayed start, remaining time, completion and error events | No local control; older models polled about every five minutes |
| Samsung (SmartThings) | Samsung account and the SmartThings app | Machine and job state, completion time, soil, spin and water-temperature selects | Docs list no remote start; Samsung plans to end free API access |
Does Samsung's SmartThings API fee affect washing machines?
It might. Home Assistant's SmartThings documentation says Samsung plans to end free API access in October 2026, after which access needs a paid plan at $4.99 a month. We cover the detail in our SmartThings API fee explainer. If you already own a Samsung washer, check what applies to you before relying on it; if you are buying new, this tips the balance towards Miele, Bosch, Siemens or LG for Home Assistant use.
How much should you spend on a smart washing machine?
Prices vary by retailer and change with sales, so use these as bands from Which?'s guide. Candy and Hoover smart models often sit around £300 to £400, though we found no official Home Assistant integration for either. Bosch's smart machines typically run £600 to £800, roughly double a basic non-smart model. Miele's smart range is £850 to £1,500. Premium machines marketed as true AI cost close to £1,000.
For Home Assistant, the sensible sweet spot is therefore a Bosch or Siemens machine at the lower end, or an LG model, because they combine an official integration with a mid-range price. Miele costs more but has the longest quoted app-support window after discontinuation and the simplest account-based setup.
What should you avoid?
"AI" labels as a buying reason. Which? says many so-called AI features are relabelled smart features such as memory functions and load detection, with genuine machine learning in only a handful of tested machines.
Short support promises. A machine you expect to keep for a decade with an app supported for two years is a poor trade. Check the manufacturer's stated support period.
Assuming the app equals the integration. Miele's own docs note that its API does not fully match the Miele app, so some programmes or settings may be missing in Home Assistant.
How hard is it to set up each brand?
Miele is the simplest: you sign in with your Miele account and country, provided the machine is already linked to the Miele cloud service through the Miele app. LG needs a personal access token generated from your LG ThinQ account, with permissions to view and control devices and subscribe to events, plus your region. Samsung needs your Samsung account and the SmartThings app to have added the machine first.
Home Connect is the fiddly one. You create a developer account, register an application using the Home Assistant redirect address and paste the client ID and secret into Application Credentials. The docs warn that you must log out of the developer portal before finishing setup or the sign-in fails with an unauthorised_client error, that the account email must be all lowercase, and that portal changes can take about 15 minutes to apply. Budget half an hour rather than five minutes.
What can you automate once it is connected?
The useful automations are small. Send a phone alert when the cycle finishes using the Home Assistant notifications guide, flash a light if nobody has emptied the drum, or delay a start until off-peak electricity. For Home Connect, the event sensors such as "Program finished" are disabled by default and must be enabled first. LG exposes completion and error events directly, plus energy figures for yesterday, this month and last month.
Does a washing machine need to work with Home Assistant at all?
No. If you only want to know when the cycle ends, a monitoring smart plug does the job on any machine. Our best smart plug roundup covers models with power monitoring: Home Assistant spots the wash finishing when power draw drops. Be careful, though: never plug a washing machine into a plug not rated for its load, and you lose remote start entirely. Choose an integrated brand only if remote start or programme data matters; otherwise buy for cleaning and reliability, and add a plug. If you are still choosing a platform, see Home Assistant vs SmartThings.
