Adding a physical bedtime button to a smart-home setup is the small quality-of-life change that ends up mattering the most. One tap and lights fade, thermostats drop, doors lock, phones go silent. The XDA writer who wrote about their bedtime button got there with Home Assistant plus a few companion tools. Here are the best apps for Home Assistant bedtime automation, the ones we use to build the button, the routine, and the fallback.
We picked eight apps that handle the full stack: the Home Assistant client itself, flow builders for complex routines, hardware bridges for stubborn devices, and sleep-tracking apps that can trigger the routine automatically. Every one has a working free path.
What to look for in a bedtime-routine app
The bedtime routine has one job (get the house asleep) and it needs to be right every night. When evaluating apps we look for:
- Local execution so nothing depends on a cloud service being up at 11pm
- Support for the specific hubs and devices already installed (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Wi-Fi)
- A physical trigger option (button, tag, voice) with a backup path
- Clear logs so a mis-fire is diagnosable the next morning
- Room for the routine to branch (weekday vs. weekend, guest bedroom off, etc.)
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant | Local automation hub | Free, open source | 4.6 |
| Node-RED | Visual flow builder | Free, open source | 4.5 |
| ESPHome | DIY buttons and sensors | Free, open source | 4.7 |
| Google Home | Voice-triggered routines | Free | 4.4 |
| Sleep as Android | Sleep-cycle triggers | Freemium | 4.5 |
| IFTTT | Cross-service glue | Freemium | 3.9 |
| Tasker | Local Android automation | Paid | 4.4 |
| Bond Home | RF and IR device bridge | Free (with hardware) | 4.1 |
1. Home Assistant, best local hub
Home Assistant is the anchor of a solid bedtime routine because everything else in this list plugs into it. Home Assistant for bedtime automation runs entirely local by default, which means the routine still works when the internet is down. The Companion app is the mobile control surface most families rely on.
Where it falls short: Setting up the first time takes an evening. Nothing about it is beginner-friendly on day one.
Pricing:
- Free, open source
- Home Assistant Cloud: about $6.50 a month (Nabu Casa, optional)
Bottom line: Non-negotiable if the routine has more than three devices in it.
Download: Google Play | F-Droid | App Store
2. Node-RED, best visual flow builder
Node-RED turns a bedtime routine into a diagram that a non-programmer can read. Node-RED for Home Assistant bedtime automation is what we use when the routine gets branches (weekday vs. weekend, guest-mode override, kids’ rooms on a slower fade). The Home Assistant Community Add-on installs it inside HA in one click.
Where it falls short: Debugging a broken flow means tracing wires. For a five-step routine, YAML in Home Assistant is faster.
Pricing:
- Free, open source
- No paid tier
Download: nodered.org (installed inside Home Assistant as an add-on)
3. ESPHome, best DIY button and sensor firmware
ESPHome is what we flash on a spare ESP32 or M5Stack device to build a physical bedtime button. ESPHome for Home Assistant integrates the button as a native entity so a single YAML config handles the entire round trip: press, publish, trigger.
Where it falls short: The one-time flash requires a USB-to-serial cable. Not painful, just an extra step.
Pricing:
- Free, open source
- No paid tier
Download: esphome.io | GitHub
4. Google Home, best voice trigger
Google Home covers the voice path for people who want “Hey Google, bedtime” to work alongside the button. Google Home for bedtime routines plays nicely with Home Assistant through Nabu Casa or through the local Assistant integration.
Where it falls short: The routine lives in Google’s cloud. If Google’s assistant service is down, the voice trigger fails even though local automations still fire.
Pricing:
- Free
- No paid tier
Download: Google Play | App Store
5. Sleep as Android, best sleep-cycle trigger
Sleep as Android tracks sleep phases and can call a Home Assistant webhook when it detects deep sleep. Sleep as Android for bedtime automation is how we add a “auto-lower the thermostat once the alarm holder has fallen asleep” leg to the routine.
Where it falls short: Sleep phase detection is more accurate with a wearable pair. Phone-only tracking is a rough signal.
Pricing:
- Free with basic features
- Sleep as Android Unlock: about $5.99 one-time
- Cloud sync add-on: subscription
Download: Google Play
6. IFTTT, best cross-service glue
IFTTT bridges the odd cloud-only device that refuses to speak Home Assistant natively. IFTTT for bedtime routines used to be free-tier bread-and-butter and is now a pay-per-applet service, so pick and choose.
Where it falls short: The pricing model changed in 2020 and never fully recovered goodwill. Native integrations in Home Assistant have replaced most IFTTT recipes.
Pricing:
- Free: two applets total
- IFTTT Pro: about $2.92 a month billed annually
- IFTTT Pro+: about $12.50 a month billed annually
Download: Google Play | App Store
7. Tasker, best local Android automation
Tasker runs the phone side of the routine (silence notifications, enable Do Not Disturb, dim the screen, launch a night dashboard) without needing a network round trip. Tasker for bedtime automation pairs with Home Assistant through custom HTTP tasks or via the AutoRemote plugin.
Where it falls short: The UI is famously dense. Learning curve is real.
Pricing:
- About $3.49 one-time on Google Play
- Two-week free trial via the developer’s site
Download: Google Play
8. Bond Home, best RF and IR bridge
Bond Home is the hardware plus app combo that brings older ceiling fans and RF-controlled devices into a Home Assistant routine. Bond Home for bedtime automation matters if the setup has non-smart fans that need to run at low speed overnight.
Where it falls short: Requires the Bond Bridge hardware (about $99). No pure-software option.
Pricing:
- Free app
- Bond Bridge Pro: about $99 hardware
- Bond Sidekick: about $69 hardware
Download: Google Play | App Store
How to pick the right one
If the routine is under five steps and stays inside Home Assistant devices: Home Assistant Companion alone is enough.
If the routine branches on schedules, presence, or day of week: Node-RED makes it maintainable.
If a family member wants a physical button rather than voice: ESPHome for the firmware, wired into Home Assistant.
If someone wants to trigger the routine with voice: Google Home on top of Home Assistant.
If the goal is “auto-bedtime” without pressing anything: Sleep as Android watches sleep cycles and calls a webhook when it’s time.
If phone-side actions matter (silence, DND, dashboard): Tasker handles it locally without cloud dependencies.
FAQ
What is the simplest bedtime routine to build first? Start with a Home Assistant script that turns off lights, sets the thermostat, and locks the front door. Trigger it from the mobile app. Once that works, add a physical button.
Do we need Node-RED or is Home Assistant enough? Home Assistant’s built-in automations handle the majority of routines. Node-RED shines when the routine has multiple branches or waits on conditions between steps.
Can Home Assistant control HomeKit devices? Yes, through the HomeKit Controller integration. The routine can include Apple-only accessories.
Which physical button works best with Home Assistant? A DIY ESP32 button with ESPHome is the most flexible. For plug-and-play, Aqara or IKEA Tradfri Zigbee buttons pair cleanly with a Zigbee2MQTT setup.
Does the routine still work when the internet is down? Yes, if every step uses local integrations (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, ESPHome). Cloud steps (Google Home, IFTTT) fail during outages.
What happens if a device in the routine is offline? Home Assistant logs the failure but continues with the rest of the routine. Configure the log to send a notification the next morning so the failure doesn’t go unnoticed.