Samsung puts a $5 monthly fee on the SmartThings API and pushes Home Assistant users toward local control

Announced in June 2026, the move to $4.99 per month for the SmartThings API for individual developers takes effect this autumn, ending years of free access for third-party integrations like Home Assistant, while the LocalThings project emerges to restore local control. For anyone driving Samsung devices from Home Assistant, the right answer is not to pay the subscription but to migrate automations onto local paths that no future fee can close.