openHab convert; How to enable alexa voice commands?

Configuration Voice Assistant
1

Hello. I’ve been running openHab for the past 3 years with various z-wave switches and sensors. I’ve decided to jump to Home Assistant because openHab’s logging/metrics is incredibly difficult to get working. After installing HA, I had graphs, and exports to VictoriaMetrics in under 10 minutes!

Now, I’m trying to setup “alexa, turn on the living room lights” something I had with openHab for all those years. In reading some HA docs, it appears that this can only be accomplished with a HA Cloud account, which costs $7/month. Is that right? If so, why was I able to do this functionality natively and, more importantly, for free, with openHab? Is there a way to accomplish this without the subscription?

2

You’ve several options.

  1. Yes. You can subscribe to Nabu Casa and use their Alexa Skill.

  2. You can add this custom repository in your Apps and install the Home-Assistant-Matter-Hub. This is the most popular free method, but will use the resources on your HA machine. You’ll need at least one compatible Alexa Echo Device that works with Matter and your Wi-Fi network needs IPv6 working.

  3. Not for the feint of heart, but you can build your own Alexa Smart Home Skill following these instructions. Mostly free, depending on how much you use Alexa. It requires you to create an AWS account and a Developer Console account to build it. I did this years ago and it’s still working excellent. My family uses Alexa upwards to 20-30x per day on a heavy usage day to control lights, etc. and I’ve never been charged for it’s use.

3

Thanks @mmstano! I guess #3 is my route then since I don’t use ipv6 nor Matter.