Best local in-wall relays for Home Assistant
The best hidden relay modules for local-first smart homes, especially when you want to keep existing switches and still get strong Home Assistant control.
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In-wall relays are the part of the smart home market that feels the most like contraband competence.
They don’t photograph well. They aren’t beginner-friendly. But they can be a better answer than replacing every wall switch in the house with expensive branded hardware.
Two picks that hold up:
- Best Wi-Fi relay for flexible local control: Shelly Plus 1, or the current-generation Shelly 1 Gen4
- Best Zigbee relay for older homes without neutral wires: SONOFF ZBMINI-L2
Quick verdict
If you’re comfortable with wiring and want the most flexible local-control option, buy Shelly Plus 1, or Shelly’s current-generation Shelly 1 Gen4 if you want Zigbee and Matter on the table too.
If your home has no neutral at the switch box, the SONOFF ZBMINI-L2 is the easier recommendation because that one detail decides a lot of real installs.
How we judge relays
Relays aren’t just about whether they switch power on and off.
We care about:
- How strong the local control story is
- Whether the install is realistic for older homes
- How well the relay fits Home Assistant
- Whether the product adds Wi-Fi clutter or strengthens an existing Zigbee mesh
- Whether it’s a sane way to preserve normal wall-switch behavior
Best flexible local-first pick: Shelly Plus 1
Shelly Plus 1 is the stronger general recommendation when the wiring situation allows it.
Why it stands out:
- excellent local APIs and MQTT support
- great Home Assistant fit
- tiny size makes it practical behind existing wall controls and in junction boxes
- affordable enough that it scales beyond a single “test” install
One generation note before you buy: the Plus 1 is Shelly’s Gen2 part. It still works, and it still gets the same excellent local Home Assistant integration — but Shelly’s current-generation equivalent is the Shelly 1 Gen4, and that is the more future-proof choice for a new install. The Gen4 adds Bluetooth, Matter and Zigbee 3.0 alongside Wi-Fi, and in Zigbee mode it repeats the mesh instead of sitting on it as an end device. One catch worth understanding: it runs a single radio profile at a time. It ships in the Matter-over-Wi-Fi profile, and a five-press on the device button switches it to Zigbee — so it is Wi-Fi or Zigbee, never both at once. Like the Plus 1, it needs a neutral at the switch box.
Why I would hesitate:
- it’s still an advanced install, not a casual one
- Wi-Fi-only devices add more load and clutter to your wireless environment if you use them everywhere
Best old-house relay: SONOFF ZBMINI-L2
The SONOFF ZBMINI-L2 matters because a lot of older homes don’t have a neutral wire where the switch lives.
That turns many otherwise-good relay ideas into dead ends.
Why this one earns a place:
- no-neutral support is a real practical advantage
- fully local Zigbee behavior
- small enough to hide inside existing wall boxes
Its main tradeoff is obvious: you need a Zigbee coordinator, and the install is still not for people who shouldn’t be touching mains wiring. One more thing worth knowing: because the L2 runs without a neutral, it behaves as a Zigbee end device rather than a mains-powered router, so it won’t extend your mesh the way some neutral-wired relays do.
Wi-Fi vs Zigbee for relays
This is one of the places where protocol choice matters.
If you have a neutral at the box, Shelly’s Gen4 relays now let you make that call at install time rather than at purchase time: the same part can join as a Matter-over-Wi-Fi device or as a Zigbee one, though only ever one of them at a time. Where there is no neutral, the wiring still makes the choice for you.
Choose Shelly Plus 1 if you want:
- flexible local APIs
- strong MQTT workflows
- no extra coordinator requirement
Choose SONOFF ZBMINI-L2 if you want:
- no-neutral compatibility
- fewer Wi-Fi devices
- a fully local Zigbee switch for no-neutral boxes
What to avoid
Avoid in-wall products if:
- you’re not comfortable with mains wiring
- you can’t verify the wiring situation first
- you really just want an easier smart switch replacement
A relay is often the best tool only when you specifically want to keep the existing switch hardware or solve an awkward electrical case.
Final recommendation
For most advanced DIY Home Assistant users, Shelly Plus 1 is the most flexible and compelling relay here.
For older homes or no-neutral switch boxes, buy SONOFF ZBMINI-L2.
Product notes:
