I’m looking to upgrade my dumb thermostat, but there is such a wide range in prices. The Nest or Ecobee are similar, in the $150-200 range, and there are similar Honeywell offerings.

However, there are also some in the $40-80 range from Vine, and again Honeywell.

I intend to have it controlled through Home Assistant, so the apps make no difference to me. I don’t really understand the huge range of prices. Isn’t a thermostat essentially an on-off switch connected to a sensor? If the “smart” parts are being handled on the server, is there any real benefit to the more expensive ones?

What am I missing?

Does anyone here use a vine thermostat? How do you like it?

How does your thermostat stack up?