CRISIS!
The Verge:
A post on Amazon’s developer site says it's shutting down access to Alexa Shopping and To-Do lists on July 1st.
The Verge
developer.amazon.com
What do we do? I use Alexa to add things to my shopping list or task lists all the time! I don’t know how to develop Alexa things or HA things.
First, take a deep breath! 
Everything will be fine, because Home Assistant already has Assist. You can already add things to the built-in shopping or to-do lists via Assist. It’s just a different device you need to speak to.
In a nutshell: you need new mics and speakers, probably flashed with ESPHome. All other things necessary, like the function to add things to your shopping list, are already built-in in Home Assistant.
What you will be loosing is the money you invested in Alexa. But that’s what you get with closed source devices, that seem cheap at first. 
Sorry to say!
Just a different device that is not generally available, nor ubiquitous as are all the Amazon Echo devices in my home and caravan (trailer). I either have to make them from constituent components in a messy enclosure, or spend 3x as much on an M3 box if/when available!
Amazon does suck, but to be fair it was my entry into smart home along with Node Red then to HA. This decision of theirs is crazy.
OP is right. It IS a crisis.
Still barking at the wrong tree here…
Amazon did change things, not HA. As unfortunate as that may be for all people affected by their decision, this forum can provide support and help on how to react on that, but in the end, it’s nothing unforseen and nothing HA is responsible for.
You bought a device, that was know for from the start, to be closed source, so nothing can be changed by you. You wanted it, you bought it, now you’ll have, unfortunately, to deal with the fact, that it’s not like you had hoped it would be.
What did you think, would be the reason, why these devices are so cheap? Because people at Amazon can’t count? It was clear from the beginning, that you’ll pay for these devices for as long as you use it - with your money, and with your privacy!
Anyway, that doesn’t bring this discussion any further, and why Amazon is the “bad guy” in this, should be clear to everybody.
So let’s take a step back, and see what we can find for you, to fit your needs, won’t make you bankrupt and works nice and easy.
A nice and really good working alternative for an Echo is the M5Stack ATOM Echo:
It’s cheap, looks nice, and can be placed very secretive. It does what an Amazon Echo does right now for you. Even more!
If I may give you a piece of advise: take a look around, and see what people have achieved with their voice assistants! It’s mind blowing, what is doable, and that should be your first start - think out of the box and leave that Amazon **** behind you!
Take a look at this category in the blog:
Especially this post:
I’m well aware that it is nothing to do with HA, and that Amazon suck! You have no need to be defensive about that, nor as gleeful that we all made bad purchases when there were no other alternatives!
I was in fact reacting to your laid back approach, which is nice for you, but not helpful to the echo users left out in the cold, in particular those who are not up to engineering an echo-quality device. Yes, the software is there, the components are there, but has anyone put them together and sold them yet? No.
I already have the Atom, which might be ok for people who do all their interacting with shopping lists at a keyboard, but I hardly think they are suitable for replacing Echo devices - more of a novelty item.
Tell me, do you want or need to add items to your shopping list from any room in your home? If so, how do you do it?
Until someone entrepreneurial produces something that looks and sounds like an echo but talks to HA , I think Echo owners are screwed.
I would hope the team that produces standalone HA servers would be up to task, so my fingers are crossed, but I’m not holding my breath!
There were alternatives, but I can see why people didn’t look further than Amazon. Anyway, as you said, that shouldn’t be our topic.
Yes.
In my case, this goes: “Jarvis, put milk on the shopping list”. Of course it’s in German, but I can’t see why this shouldn’t work in English.
There are already devices out there, that do exactly what you want. If you want something, that looks the same as an Alexa, this might not be possible, but if you look around, there are plenty of nice and good looking devices.
Granted, you have to install the firmware (ESPHome) yourself, but I don’t think of that as a problem. For Alexa you had to do a basic setup as well.
I honestly don’t see the need for an Alexa replacement, as there are sooooo many possibilities. The HA companion app on an old phone, tablet, PC, laptop…an old phone, or even an old microphone. All of these can be your voice assistant.
Sure, it’s not that easy as going on a shopping page and buy the first thing they offer you. But as you now see, that wasn’t a good alternative as well…
So in the end, it’s up to you to invest some time to find a device that fits your needs, but they are there, you just have to look for them and be a little flexible with your thinking - as I said, there are so many possibilities, I highly doubt, there wouldn’t be one, that fits your needs.
Hi Patrick, about your statement
Do you talk here about the M5 Stack ATOM Echo or are there any other DEV Kits available? Maybe also with a little better quality?
Thanks
So can you name an off-the-shelf ESP-based device that will sit in a room and can respond in a multi-directional way similarly to the way an echo would, and with a decent speaker integrated in it for which I do not need to hack together a case of some kind?
The only one I have seen is the ESP32-S3-BOX-3 which doesn’t qualify under the audio quality category and apparently needs a loud voice, according to reviews - but if you know of something better, I’d appreciate a link! After all, you say there are so many, I feel like I’ve been wearing blinkers…
What I’m missing - and that’s really the only thing I miss in self built devices - is proper music playback. I’m using my 13 echo devices around the house to have music everywhere as well as having the assist function.
I can fully imagine replacing them with esp based devices for assist. But for music playback? Let alone synced playback? As far as I know there is no real replacement for that without also buying into a new ecosystem just for music, or am I missing sth?
I like Spotify, but Youtube Music might even be better (because of other synergies).