Consumer Rights Wiki

Futurehome Smarthub Mandatory Subscription Fee

Revision as of 23:58, 13 July 2025 by Louis (talk | contribs) (merged with original old article)

Futurehome Smarthub[1] is a Norwegian smart-home gateway originally sold as a one-time purchase. The hub lets users pair Zigbee-, Z-Wave-, and Futurehome-branded devices and control them locally or remotely through a free mobile app and cloud service; it also exposes local APIs for third-party integrations such as Home Assistant. After the company’s 2025 bankruptcy and relaunch, any continued use now requires an annual subscription of 1,188 NOK (≈ $117); households that decline are locked out of the app, automations, and the local API interface, leaving only manual, on-device control.[2]

Futurehome’s Smarthub (left) and example compatible devices

Background

Futurehome AS, founded in Stavanger, Norway, in 2013, sold the Futurehome Smarthub - a central hub that connects and controls various IoT devices using standards like Zigbee and Z-Wave. The Smarthub and Futurehome’s own product line (thermostats, smart plugs, relays, sensors, etc[3]) allow users to automate lighting, heating, EV charging, and other home functions via a mobile app and cloud platform.

Prior to 2025, Futurehome operated on a one-time hardware purchase model, with app and cloud services included at no extra cost. Users could remotely monitor and control their smart homes through the Futurehome app without any subscription fees.

Futurehome AS was declared bankrupt on May 20th, 2025. The platform & its services were purchased with 50/50 ownership by Sikom Connect & the old Futurehome owners. The business now operates under FHSD Connect AS.

June 2025 Subscription Rollout

On 20 May 2025 Futurehome AS was declared bankrupt. Shortly after, the Futurehome platform and services were acquired by a new joint venture, 50% held by the original owners and 50% by Sikom Connect AS, a Norwegian IoT company, and operations resumed under a new entity, called FHSD Connect AS.[2][4]

On 26 June 2025 a mandatory subscription was activated in the app, with the existing households being granted a four-week free trial. After the trial, continued use of the hub requires 1,188 NOK per year (≈ US $117); non-subscribers are locked out of the app, automations, and local API.

Customers had until June 26, 2025 to activate this subscription. Failing to pay would lead to the following:[5]

  • Loss of application function: remote AND LAN app control disabled
  • Local API/MQTT(mosquitobroker) interface is disabled after a short "grace period" is up
  • The app is locked and most paid features become unavailable.
  • You lose access to controls, automations, modes, shortcuts, and energy services.
  • Local devices still work manually, but without app control.

This is enforced via a forced firmware update that disables functionality if a subscription is not paid for, according to a software engineer

The hub is installed in over 38,000 households across Norway.[6]

  •  
    Futurehome app home screen prompting the user to activate a subscription.
  •  
    Subscription-activation screen showing annual-payment terms; one link opens the subscription FAQ, the other opens a feedback form (https://us1.zonka.co/1pBYm3)
  •  
    Feedback form presented to users who decline the subscription (https://us1.zonka.co/1pBYm3)

Futurehome's reply

FHSD justified the fee as necessary to “secure stable operation, fund product development, and provide high-quality support”, according to FAQ.[7][8][9]

Consumer response

The response from Futurehome’s user base in Norway was overwhelmingly negative. Many customers expressed shock, anger, and a sense of betrayal at what they saw as a sudden “paywall” imposed on equipment they had purchased in good faith. On the Norway discussion forum Reddit (r/norge), a thread about Futurehome’s new policy quickly filled with outraged comments.[10][11]

 Norwegian consumers questioned the legality of what FHSD Connect AS did under EU consumer protection law. Muffinmeistro commented the following:

I can't understand how what they're trying to do here is legal. I'd like to hear what u/thomasiversen thinks. They're removing functionality locally in a hub (computer) that I've paid for with an update.[12]

Impact on Third-Party Integrations

One particularly painful aspect for advanced users is that the subscription lockout also breaks any third-party integrations. Futurehome’s ecosystem wasn’t completely closed – prior to this change, enthusiasts could integrate the Smarthub with systems like Home Assistant (an open source smart home platform)[13] or use Homebridge to link with Apple’s HomeKit[14]. These integrations typically relied on Futurehome’s local API or MQTT interface to communicate with the hub. Once Futurehome disables the local API/MQTT (after the grace period), such solutions will stop functioning. The hub won’t respond to local requests or publish updates, effectively cutting off Home Assistant, Homebridge, or any other external smart home controller from accessing the devices.

The only path for unhappy customers is to migrate to a completely different smart home system, re-using the devices but abandoning the Futurehome hub. Fortunately, because Futurehome devices use standard protocols, many of them can be directly enrolled into other hubs or services.

Some hardware is harder to re-home. The Futurehome Charge EV-charger (connected via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth[15]) relies on the Smarthub for smart-charging logic and may revert to basic, un-scheduled charging elsewhere. Likewise, the Futurehome HAN sensor (smart-meter reader) has no community driver listed on projects such as zigbee2mqtt.io[16], so its data may be inaccessible without the original hub.

Inadequate subscription notice

The fact that the products utilize a subscription based model is not clearly communicated to a visitor to the main website. The homepage only makes mention of a subscription based model on the 2nd page, in very small print font. Screenshots have been taken below of the site with Brave browser maximized on a 4k display, with the only mention of a subscription on the homepage enclosed in red with the arrow going to it.

  •  
    User must scroll to 2nd page of site homepage [17] and read very small text at the bottom to realize product is a subscription.
  •  
    No mention of subscription on site homepage [18] when you first land on the page.

Further, the product pages only show the cost of the individual parts, without ever making mention of the subscription model.

  •  
    Apple app store page for Futurehome app, makes no obvious mention that this will require subscription to work. [19]
  •  
    Futurehome on Google Play store, makes no obvious mention that will require a subscription.[20]
  •  
    The product page for the hansensor makes no obvious mention that this works within an ecosystem that now forces subscriptions on the user. It only makes mention of hardware price, giving incomplete impression of cost of ownership. Hansensor product page on Futurehome.[21]
  •  
    modusbryter page on futurehome site. [22] It makes no obvious mention of the fact that this works within an ecosystem that now forces subscriptions on the user, only makes mention of hardware price, giving incomplete impression of cost of ownership.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.futurehome.io/en_no/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://support.futurehome.no/hc/en-no/articles/28158944965277-FAQ-Subscription (Archived 13.07.2025 https://archive.ph/UBjdJ)
  3. ↑ https://www.futurehome.io/en_no/products
  4. ↑ https://www.elektro247.no/krever-abonnement-av-kundene.6722352-567787.html
  5. ↑ "FAQ Subscription – Futurehome". FAQ Subscription – Futurehome. 2025-07-13.
  6. ↑ https://www.futurehome.io/no/ (The updated figure of 38,000 is listed only on the Norwegian version of the site)
  7. ↑ https://support.futurehome.no/hc/en-no/articles/28158944965277-FAQ-Subscription (Archived 13.07.2025 https://archive.ph/UBjdJ)
  8. ↑ https://www.elektro247.no/krever-abonnement-av-kundene.6722352-567787.html
  9. ↑ https://www.tek.no/nyheter/nyhet/i/alMe04/rasende-kunder-opplever-smarthjem-utpressing
  10. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/norge/comments/1lek0p7/futurehome_tvinger_eksisterende_kunder_over_til/
  11. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/norge/comments/1lek0p7/futurehome_tvinger_eksisterende_kunder_over_til/?tl=en (Translated by Reddit)
  12. ↑ "Futurehome is forcing existing customers to switch to a subscription, what now? : r/norge". 2025-06-18. Retrieved 2025-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ https://github.com/runelangseid/hassio-futurehome2mqtt
  14. ↑ https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-futurehome
  15. ↑ https://www.futurehome.io/en_no/shop/charge
  16. ↑ https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/#v=Futurehome
  17. ↑ "Futurehome". Futurehome. Retrieved 2025-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ↑ "Futurehome". Futurehome. Retrieved 2025-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ↑ "Futurehome on the App Store". Futurehome on the App Store. Retrieved 2025-07-13. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 22 (help); no-break space character in |website= at position 22 (help)
  20. ↑ "Futurehome - Apps on Google Play". Futurehome - Apps on Google Play. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  21. ↑ "HAN-Sensor - Futurehome". HAN-Sensor - Futurehome. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  22. ↑ "Modusbryter (Black) - Futurehome". Modusbryter (Black) - Futurehome. Retrieved 2025-07-13.


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