The Smart Home Crossroads: Why Zigbee Isn’t Dead Yet, Despite Matter and Thread
Thread is the hot new mesh network in the smart home world, with IKEA recently adopting it for a new range of Matter devices. But even though Thread is the future, Zigbee still gets my personal pick for the present. Let me explain.
Zigbee Devices Are Still the Most Affordable Option
Zigbee devices are almost always the cheapest mesh network smart home accessories you can buy. Much of that is down to the fact that the technology has been around for so long. Zigbee really started to pick up speed in the early 2010s and remains arguably the most common mesh technology.
These devices have always been cheaper than Z-Wave alternatives. IKEA’s Zigbee smart plugs typically cost less than Amazon’s basic own-brand Wi-Fi. Broadly speaking, Matter over Thread is a newer technology, so it still demands a premium over Zigbee. IKEA’s entry into the market is changing things, with the company’s Thread devices managing to cost less than their Zigbee ones, but it will accept a although before other manufacturers bow to downward pressure on their prices. Even Zigbee radios, the hardware accessories necessary to coordinate a network, can be found for relatively cheap, like the $25 SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus.
While cheap doesn’t always mean solid, costs can really start to add up when you purchase large numbers of items like smart bulbs, switches, plugs, and sensors.
Thread Can’t Compete with Zigbee’s Device Ecosystem
When you’re shopping for smart home accessories, you might not find everything you require if you’re determined to stick with Matter over Thread. Given that Zigbee has been around for so long, you’re far more likely to find even the weirdest of sensors.
Some niche items include bed presence sensors (which are more useful than you think), water shutoff valves like the $70 Aqara Valve Controller T1 that pair perfectly with your leak detection sensors, and soil moisture sensors that let you know when your house plants are thirsty. Many of these less common devices are still surprisingly affordable, like SONOFF’s Smart Water Valve for automating irrigation at only $36.
Time is on Zigbee’s side, since there simply aren’t a comparable number of Thread devices on the market yet. While you might be able to find a few examples of niche smart home accessories that use Thread, their scarcity will likely mean you’ll pay more for them.
Home Assistant: A Playground for Both Zigbee and Thread
Home Assistant users have a choice of two options when starting a Zigbee network. The first is Zigbee Home Automation, and it’s the “basic” default integration that is included with Home Assistant. It works well, is simple to set up, and many never feel the need to use anything else.
The other option is Zigbee2MQTT, a more powerful Zigbee coordinator that is often favored for its expanded device support, ability to access more features on connected devices, and the fact that you can run it on a separate device so that your Zigbee network’s status isn’t tied to that of your Home Assistant server.
You can run both of these at once, though you’ll need two USB radios.
Matter and Thread: Still Working Out the Kinks
Thread is a mesh network, comparable with Zigbee, whereas Matter is the underlying protocol. Thread isn’t used for much beyond Matter at the moment, which means that if you’re building a Thread network, then it’s effectively going to be a Matter over Thread network since those are the devices that will be connecting to it.
Anecdotally speaking, there appear to be more issues with Thread (and Matter) than there are with Zigbee. While this is subjective, there are more complaints about getting Matter devices working over Thread than with Zigbee on the Home Assistant forums and r/HomeAssistant.
This is likely down to teething issues, but there is some evidence beyond anecdote to back it up. Though IKEA’s entry into the Matter over Thread space has been warmly welcomed, the company has acknowledged connectivity issues that have seen some users encounter a hit rate of just over 50% when trying to pair new devices.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Following this logic, adding a Thread network at a later date to support Matter devices, rather than replacing a current Zigbee setup, seems sensible. The open approach of Home Assistant means you don’t need to pick between them; you can have both.
Zigbee’s Evolution: Zigbee 4.0 and Beyond
In late 2025, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) announced Zigbee 4.0, the next iteration of the Zigbee mesh network. In addition to being backward compatible with existing Zigbee devices, networks using the upgrade will be able to take advantage of new long-range capabilities, hubless pairing with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices, stability improvements, and better security.
It’s not clear whether existing adapters like the Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 will receive support for Zigbee 4.0 via an over-the-air software update, but it’s clear that Zigbee isn’t ready to roll over just yet.
Right now, even as a smart home enthusiast who writes about this stuff for a living, hopping on board the Thread train when so many compelling Zigbee options exist isn’t particularly appealing.
IKEA’s arrival into the space might have been enough to sway me if I were starting from scratch tomorrow, but most other manufacturers are still pricing their accessories too high for my tastes. It’s likewise captivating to learn that some of IKEA’s new Matter devices actually work with Zigbee after all.
The Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 supports both Zigbee and Thread, although it must be set up for use with either one of the two protocols. It offers 4x the responsiveness of the previous model, and is designed to be easy to open for modding, with accessible pins and pads.
