Gladys Assistant
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersFlavigny-le-grand-et-beaurain, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Gladys Assistant does
Gladys Assistant is a French open-source smart home automation platform founded in 2013 by Pierre-Gilles Leymarie and operated as a privately held, bootstrapped project with 1–10 employees. The software is released under the Apache 2.0 license and runs locally on user-owned hardware (Raspberry Pi, NAS, mini-PCs, or any Docker-capable Linux machine), with all smart home data stored on the user's local network rather than in a vendor cloud.
The core platform is built on a Node.js backend with a SQLite database and a modern web frontend, deployed via Docker containers. It supports the major smart home protocols — Zigbee (via Zigbee2MQTT), Matter, MQTT, and Z-Wave JS UI — alongside dozens of dedicated integrations (Tuya, Shelly, Sonos, Somfy, Philips Hue, Xiaomi, Sonoff, Tasmota, TP-Link, Nuki, Netatmo, HomeKit, RTSP cameras, and others). Recent AI capabilities include an LLM-powered natural-language control layer (chat, Telegram, voice assistant) using open-weight models hosted by Scaleway in French data centers, an AI-driven Matterbridge plugin factory for legacy device integration, and an MCP server enabling external AI agents such as Claude Desktop and Perplexity to interact with the smart home. Gladys Plus, the optional paid subscription (€9.99/month), provides end-to-end-encrypted remote access, daily encrypted backups, an external open API, and certified Google Home and Amazon Alexa integrations.
Monetization is structured around three streams: the Gladys Plus subscription, one-time hardware starter kit sales (Beelink mini S12 and S13 mini-PCs pre-installed with Gladys and bundled with 6 months of Gladys Plus), and a freemium product-led growth motion where the core software remains free. The company explicitly states it has no investors, no advertising, and no data resale. Customers are individual consumers and small-scale smart home enthusiasts, primarily served through self-service Docker installation, community forum support, content/SEO marketing (comparison pages versus Home Assistant, Jeedom, Alexa, and Google Home), and direct hardware kit sales.
Gladys Assistant firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gladys Assistant
- Legal name
- Gladys Assistant
- Website
- https://gladysassistant.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Gladys Assistant industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Smart Home Automation Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Smart Home Hubs, Controllers & Voice Assistants (HSAPAQAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Whole-Home Automation System Design & Programming (HSAHADAA), Voice Assistant & Smart Home Hub Setup (Alexa/Google/HomeKit) (HSAHADAF), Voice Assistants & Voice UI (VUI) (HDAAAFAD), Home Automation Hub/Platform Integration for Electrical & HVAC (e.g., HomeKit/Google/Alexa) (HSAOANAI)
Keywords
Where Gladys Assistant is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Flavigny-le-grand-et-beaurain
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Gladys Assistant business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Gladys Plus Subscription: Optional paid subscription service providing end-to-end encrypted remote access, daily encrypted backups, open AI models, MCP server, Google Home integration, and Alexa integration. The subscription enables users to access their local Gladys instance remotely without technical VPN setup while maintaining privacy.
- Starter Kit Hardware Sales: Sale of pre-configured mini-PC starter kits with Gladys and Ubuntu Server pre-installed. Includes official training videos and 6 months of Gladys Plus. Hardware options include Beelink Mini S12 and Beelink S13.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free - Core Software |
| Subscription | Monthly | Gladys Plus - Premium Cloud Services |
| One time/ perpetual license | Others | Starter Kit Mini S12 |
| One time/ perpetual license | Others | Starter Kit S13 (Recommended) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Gladys Assistant product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source home automation platform that runs locally on user-owned hardware via Docker. It supports smart home protocols (Matter, Zigbee, MQTT, Z-Wave) and provides a dashboard, scene-based automation, voice control, and integrations with thousands of devices. The core software is free under Apache 2.0, with an optional paid Gladys Plus subscription adding end-to-end encrypted remote access, AI-powered voice control, MCP server, and cloud integrations with Google Home and Alexa. Pre-configured Beelink mini-PC starter kits are sold as bundled hardware offerings.
Product overview
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source smart home platform consisting of the core Gladys Assistant software (free, self-hosted) and the optional Gladys Plus subscription service. The core platform runs locally on user hardware (Raspberry Pi, NAS, mini-PC) and supports Matter, Zigbee, MQTT and other smart home protocols. Gladys Plus adds cloud convenience features including E2E encrypted remote access, AI voice control powered by LLMs, MCP server integration for AI agents, and Google Home/Alexa integrations. Hardware starter kits (Beelink mini S12 and S13) bundle pre-installed mini-PCs with official training and 6 months of Gladys Plus.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Gladys Plus: An optional paid subscription service that provides end-to-end encrypted remote access, daily encrypted backups, an open external API, open-weight AI models hosted in French data centers by Scaleway, an MCP server for AI agent integration, and Google Home/Amazon Alexa integration.
Products and services
- Gladys Assistant A privacy-first, open-source home assistant platform that runs locally on user hardware. Supports Matter, Zigbee, MQTT and other smart home protocols with a dashboard, scene automation engine, and voice control. Free and self-hosted with optional Gladys Plus cloud services.
- Gladys Plus A paid optional subscription providing end-to-end encrypted remote access, daily encrypted backups, open external API, open-weight AI models via Scaleway, MCP server for AI agent integration, and Google Home/Alexa cloud integrations.
- Starter Kit (Beelink Mini S12) Pre-configured Beelink mini S12 mini-PC with Gladys Assistant installed and configured. Intel N95 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.2, Ethernet Gigabit. Ships with official Gladys training, 6 months of Gladys Plus, and personalized support.
- Starter Kit (Beelink S13) Pre-configured Beelink S13 mini-PC with Gladys Assistant installed. Intel N150 processor, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD M.2 NVMe, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 2.5G Ethernet. Recommended high-performance choice with official training, 6 months Gladys Plus, and personalized support.
Companies that use Gladys Assistant
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Gladys Assistant technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration39 records
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
Gladys Assistant partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Zigbee2MQTTcoreOpen-source Zigbee bridge integration that allows Gladys to communicate with thousands of Zigbee devices. Gladys automatically installs the MQTT broker and Zigbee2MQTT containers when enabled. This partnership enables broad Zigbee device compatibility without requiring proprietary bridges.
- Matter (CSA)coreSupport for the Matter smart home standard, enabling interoperability with Matter-certified devices across different brands. Matter represents the industry's move toward open standards for smart home connectivity.
- ScalewaycoreAI inference infrastructure provider for Gladys Plus. Open-weight AI models (LLMs) are hosted on Scaleway's French data centers, enabling natural language control of the smart home without relying on US-based AI providers.
- BeelinkminorHardware partner for pre-configured starter kits. Beelink mini-PCs (Mini S12 and S13) are sold with Gladys Assistant pre-installed and configured. Includes official training materials and Gladys Plus subscription.
- MQTTcoreOpen machine-to-machine messaging protocol for IoT. Gladys uses MQTT as a core integration mechanism, enabling communication with MQTT-compatible devices and services.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Gladys Assistant competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- openHAB: Open-source home automation platform with similar self-hosted philosophy, broad protocol support, and rule-based scene engine. Competes for the same technically inclined DIY smart home user persona as Gladys.
- Domoticz: Open-source home automation platform supporting Z-Wave, Zigbee, MQTT, and other protocols. Long-running self-hosted alternative competing for the same DIY privacy-first user segment as Gladys.
- Jeedom: French open-source smart home platform and the most direct domestic competitor to Gladys. Shares a similar self-hosted philosophy, French community roots, and consumer-focused positioning — Gladys explicitly markets against Jeedom in comparison pages.
- Home Assistant: Direct open-source smart home hub competitor. Home Assistant is the dominant player in the self-hosted smart home category, offering similar Matter/Zigbee/MQTT support, scene automation, and broad integrations. Gladys explicitly targets Home Assistant users via SEO comparison pages.
- Hubitat Elevation: Local-first smart home hub that emphasizes on-device processing and privacy similar to Gladys. Operates in the same smart home hub category but is proprietary hardware rather than open-source software.
- Homebridge: Open-source lightweight server that bridges non-HomeKit devices to Apple HomeKit. Overlaps with Gladys's integration breadth and Matterbridge plugin concept; appeals to the same privacy-conscious self-hosting community.
Broad incumbents
- SmartThings (Samsung): Samsung's broad smart home platform offering a hub, app, and cloud-based automation. Overlaps heavily with Gladys on device integrations and scenes but operates at vastly greater scale with bundled hardware distribution.
- Apple HomeKit: Apple's smart home platform centered on HomeKit and the Home app. Gladys integrates HomeKit and competes for the same privacy-conscious Apple-adjacent smart home user.
- Amazon Alexa: Amazon's voice-assistant-led smart home platform with Echo devices and Skills ecosystem. Gladys is a certified Alexa partner and markets explicitly as a privacy-respecting alternative to Alexa.
- Google Home: Google's consumer smart home ecosystem including Nest devices and the Home app. Gladys integrates with Google Home via Gladys Plus, positioning itself as a privacy-first alternative to Google's cloud-centric model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Gladys Assistant social profiles
Digital presenceGladys Assistant financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gladys Assistant leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Gladys Assistant funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gladys Assistant M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gladys Assistant
What does Gladys Assistant do?
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source home automation platform that runs locally on user-owned hardware via Docker. It supports smart home protocols (Matter, Zigbee, MQTT, Z-Wave) and provides a dashboard, scene-based automation, voice control, and integrations with thousands of devices. The core software is free under Apache 2.0, with an optional paid Gladys Plus subscription adding end-to-end encrypted remote access, AI-powered voice control, MCP server, and cloud integrations with Google Home and Alexa. Pre-configured Beelink mini-PC starter kits are sold as bundled hardware offerings.
Is Gladys Assistant a public or private company?
Gladys Assistant is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Gladys Assistant founded?
Gladys Assistant was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Gladys Assistant based?
Gladys Assistant is headquartered in Flavigny-le-grand-et-beaurain, France, in the Europe region.
How does Gladys Assistant make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Gladys Plus Subscription is the primary driver. The others are starter Kit Hardware Sales.
Who are Gladys Assistant's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are openHAB, Domoticz, Jeedom, Home Assistant, Hubitat Elevation and Homebridge. Broad incumbents are SmartThings (Samsung), Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
Does Gladys Assistant have an API?
Yes. Gladys Assistant exposes a REST API for data access and automation. Gladys Plus provides an optional Open API for external access (e.g., sending API requests to home, sending sensor data, Owntracks location data). MCP server is available for connecting compatible AI agents (Claude Desktop, Perplexity, etc.) to the smart home. Developer documentation is at gladysassistant.com/docs/api/data-model.
What industry is Gladys Assistant in?
Gladys Assistant's product category is Smart Home Automation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSAPAQAA, Smart Home Hubs, Controllers & Voice Assistants, with a secondary code of HSAHADAA, Whole-Home Automation System Design & Programming. Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.