Shelly smart relay
Hacker ApprovedSmart relay in Networking & smart home
Cheap Wi-Fi relays and plugs that fit in wall boxes, with a local API and power monitoring that works with Home Assistant. Critics question build quality.
Cheap Wi-Fi relays and plugs that fit in wall boxes, with a local API and power monitoring that works with Home Assistant. Critics question build quality.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 24
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 24 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fits inside existing wall boxes
“Thank goodness the Shelly relay can get a wifi signal while stuffed into that electrical box in the basement ceiling.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell” “actuators (e.g. Shelly) in the wall behind actual switches were the exception for me”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “What tech purchase did you regret even though reviews were great?” “I put the Shelly relay in a pre-existing junction box in the basement.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi” - Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi”
Power monitoring and plug control
“I also have some cheap shelley power plugs that I can use to cycle my PC's power state if needed.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “GPT 6.1 Sol: Near-Astra intelligence for a fifth of the price” “for a current monitor you could look at e.g. Shelly devices”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “Suddenly energy independence feels practical:Europeans building mini solar farms” “Power monitoring is surprisingly effective.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Using Home Assistant in a botanical garden” Easy to automate and script
“It is quite nice to use those apis and the resulting client code is surprisingly light weight and robust.”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Reliability or Idempotency” “makes it easy to automate navigation lights and other circuits”
Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What are your best purchases under $100?” “I like Shelly's doodads. They are easy to work with”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “IKEA launches new smart home range with 21 Matter-compatible products” Works locally without a hub
“Wi-Fi devices that either have an official local API like Shelly”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi” “It works without networking or HA or anything else.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Build quality concerns and failures
“died due to a low quality capacitor”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Repair Cafe – Fix Your Broken Items” “Shelly is anything but quality and also a niche product”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Poland is now among the 20 largest economies. How it happened”
What people said
28 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I used a Shelly relay and Home Assistant, it was simpler”
“worst case you can upload your own firmware (e.g. a bunch of Shelly devices)”
“Pair with Shelly as a gateway and it's quite useful.”
“I also have some cheap shelley power plugs that I can use to cycle my PC's power state if needed.”
“its been working out there without any air conditioning for maybe 5 years now and still going great”
“It's too much friction for little gain.”
“Thank goodness the Shelly relay can get a wifi signal while stuffed into that electrical box in the basement ceiling.”
“died due to a low quality capacitor”
“Tried to use for 2 days and although I like the GUI for things I don't want to read in the terminal, I really dislike the cli.”
“Solution? yay -Rd shelly You are not forced to use it, and it can be deinstalled.”
“Shelly also has static analysis for AUR packages that looks for all the common, shifty ways a pkgbuild might try to give you something bad.”
“I just cannot shake the sense that it is an incorrect choice for a core system program.”
“I like that I can manage Flatpack and AUR!”
“Power monitoring is surprisingly effective.”
“Shelly is anything but quality and also a niche product”
“plenty of mid tier companies delivering quality products”
“for a current monitor you could look at e.g. Shelly devices”
“If the Shelly relays supported ZigBee direct bind then it would be even better”
“I did have to drill out some wall to fit it, in some cases.”
“I can recommend Shelly for light switches over smart bulbs.”
“makes it easy to automate navigation lights and other circuits”
“actuators (e.g. Shelly) in the wall behind actual switches were the exception for me”
“It is quite nice to use those apis and the resulting client code is surprisingly light weight and robust.”
“Wi-Fi devices that either have an official local API like Shelly”
“It works without networking or HA or anything else.”
“I put the Shelly relay in a pre-existing junction box in the basement.”
“a cheap Shelly relay (chosen for form factor)”
“I like Shelly's doodads. They are easy to work with”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.