Suggestion: LTS Version for Professional Installations

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I would like to suggest considering a Long-Term Support (LTS) edition of Home Assistant alongside the current Community release model.

First, I want to say that I greatly appreciate the current monthly release cycle. As a technology enthusiast, I enjoy seeing Home Assistant evolve rapidly and support new devices, integrations, and features.

However, I am also an electrical contractor with many years of experience working on real residential projects. From that perspective, stability is often more important than innovation.

Many installers, system integrators, and homeowners would benefit from a version that offers:

  • Long-term stability (3–5 years)
  • Security updates only
  • Critical bug fixes only
  • No breaking changes to integrations or automations
  • A predictable maintenance cycle

The current Community release could continue exactly as it is today for enthusiasts, developers, and early adopters who enjoy rapid innovation and frequent updates.

An LTS release would serve a different audience:

  • Electrical contractors
  • Smart home installers
  • System integrators
  • Property managers
  • Commercial projects
  • Homeowners who prioritize reliability over new features

In large residential projects, clients rarely ask for new features every month. What they want is confidence that their lighting, heating, security, notifications, remote access, and automations will continue working reliably for many years.

Home Assistant has matured far beyond a hobbyist platform. It is increasingly being used in real homes and professional installations. For many professionals, the main concern is not functionality, but long-term stability and maintenance.

I understand that maintaining an LTS version would require additional effort. However, I believe it could significantly increase confidence among professional installers and property owners who are currently hesitant to adopt Home Assistant in larger projects.

In addition, an LTS edition could make Home Assistant more attractive for professional installations and long-term residential deployments. This may also encourage wider adoption of official services such as Home Assistant Cloud, while giving installers and homeowners greater confidence in the platform.

I am not suggesting any change to the current Community release model. I believe the fast pace of development is one of Home Assistant’s greatest strengths. My suggestion is simply to offer an additional option for users and professionals who value long-term stability above all else.

Thank you to the entire Home Assistant team for creating such an outstanding platform and for the incredible work you continue to do for the community.

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Seriously mate, you registered on these forums 7 years ago & don't know how to use search?

There are already multiple threads requesting LTS in the Feature Requests category. Note that as from last year, Feature Requests on this forum were closed in favour of Github.

Follow the link to GitHub in the pinned thread, search for lts, then hit the thumbs up on whichever one you find (or create your own). I shouldn't be explaining this to you after 7 years.

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Yes, a structured, regulated and mature industry, far different from the home automation and computer industry where rapid change and bugs are expected, and gung-ho AI assisted vibe coding is all the current rage and flavor-of-the-month.

Would you let MicroSoft near your switchboard? Plug-n-pray? How often is a BSOD acceptable? Ever?

Look where the Matter standard is, already a few years down the track- you still can't get it to work, each and every time you buy a new device. What hope has HomeAssistaant got, built on open source, often freebie volunteer contributions of varying skills and sources at the peripheral to cobble together the functionality you need?

Your LTS window of a few years seems curious for somebody that wires buildings for a useful life of decades, untouched and never upgraded.

Maybe give it a decade and ask again.

Please don't confuse the industries - they will always be different. Wiring is a skill, coding is an art.

Don't confuse best endeavours with something it is not.

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