Smart plugs are among the fastest, easiest, and most affordable ways to automate basic household devices. Plug one in, spend a few minutes setting it up, and enjoy the simple pleasure of turning a distant lamp on and off from the couch.

Beyond the obvious convenience of adding a smart plug — or two — to your home, these handy gadgets also come with cost-saving benefits. Some actively track energy usage and provide a detailed look at how much a given product costs to power. All smart plugs can stop energy-zapping appliances like TVs, streaming devices, game consoles, and charging cables from wasting electricity when you aren’t using them. 

In addition to offering on-demand control and scheduling in the app, many plugs are also compatible with at least one major smart home platform to enable voice control and automations with third-party products. Select smart plugs now even work with Matter over Wi-Fi or Thread, so you can more easily use Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and others in the same house (at least, that’s the idea; more on this below). 

Whether you’re interested in controlling a single coffee maker so your first cuppa is ready when you wake up or you want to automate several devices with Matter in a multiplatform home, there’s a smart plug here for everyone.  

The best smart plug overall

Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home (via Matter), Google Home, SmartThings  / Max wattage and amperage: 1,800 watts; 15 amps / Two or three prongs: Three / Energy monitoring: Yes / Indoor or outdoor: Indoor

The Kasa KP125M is the best smart plug for most folks due to its reliable performance, straightforward app, streamlined design, support for all of the major smart home platforms, bonus features like energy monitoring, and reasonable price (for now, at least; a pack of two is currently on sale for $30). 

The KP125M’s ease of use starts with the plug itself, which is simple to control manually via the on / off button on the right side of the device. One plug doesn’t obstruct the other outlet, and two fit stacked together on a regular two-outlet wall plate. 

The Kasa app has a minimal design and is well organized to quickly and easily find what you need. Its home screen displays all of your Kasa devices with on / off buttons for fast control. Scheduling works exactly as you’d expect and includes a sunrise / sunset option that automatically adjusts the times throughout the year. The app also has an Away Mode, which randomly turns your devices on and off to simulate someone being home. Energy monitoring is straightforward and gives you an overview of your usage for the day, month and year, as well as an estimate of your monthly electricity cost per plug based on either a fixed or time-of-use energy plan.

You can add this plug individually to your platform of choice for voice control and advanced automations. It worked very smoothly during my testing. I’d especially recommend this plug for use with Alexa and Google Home due to the easy setups and their responsiveness to my voice commands. This model also works with Matter and is our favorite smart plug that supports the nascent multiplatform standard due to its comparatively easy configuration and speedy response time, though my experience was far from perfect. Scroll down to the last section for more details on this. 

TP-Link doesn’t sell this plug as a single — it only comes in packs of two or four (the four-pack is available for $50). 

The best cheap smart plug

Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings / Max wattage and amperage: 1,800 watts; 15 amps / Two or three prongs: Three / Dimmable: No / Energy monitoring: No / Indoor or outdoor: Indoor

The Meross MSS110 will set you back just $23 for a pack of two and offers the standard features you’d expect for the price: on / off control, scheduling, and a timer. You can also create scenes in the app like “Party,” “Away,” or “Goodnight” if you have more than one Meross device you’d like to manage simultaneously. 

This simple indoor smart plug reliably controlled my entryway table lamp on a set schedule, as well as on-demand in the app. It works with Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and SmartThings to enable additional smart capabilities, such as voice control and advanced automations with third-party products. 

This Meross smart plug doesn’t support Matter or offer a vacation mode that randomizes on / off control to make it look like you’re home. It also took longer to set up than some other models due to a wonky configuration process that essentially required connecting the plug twice (once in the Apple Home app and again in the Meross app). But its broad compatibility and low price make up for it.

The best plug-in smart dimmer

Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Matter (beta), Samsung SmartThings (via Matter) / Max wattage and amperage: 300 watts (incandescents), 100 watts (LEDs); 4 amps / Two or three prongs: Two / Dimmable: Yes / Energy monitoring: No / Indoor or outdoor: Indoor

Leviton’s Decora D23LP offers steady LED dimming without any flickering. It works natively with Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home, and it has beta support for Matter, which lets it work with SmartThings and other Matter-compatible platforms, too.

The plug worked exactly as expected, letting me easily dim a table lamp in my entryway from the My Leviton app or with a voice command. Click on your plug from the app home screen to quickly turn it on and off. Click on the three dots on the top right corner of the plug to access the advanced control screen, where you adjust the brightness. The My Leviton app is missing a timer and isn’t particularly easy to navigate, but it’s good enough for standard on / off control and dimming. 

You also have the option to add on one of the company’s Decora Smart Dimmer Anywhere Companions for a physical wall-mounted, wire-free dimmer switch that works with the D23LP. I did not test an Anywhere Companion device, but a wall switch accessory that’s supposed to control a dimmer-plug-connected lamp is intriguing. (Lutron has one, too, but its plug-in dimmer is much larger than Leviton’s.)

While this device does work with Matter, it’s through Leviton’s Matter Early Access Program. Once you request access to the program, you have to wait up to 24 hours to get the firmware update that enables it. If your plug is already connected to Apple Home for any reason, the firmware update will fully wipe the integration, and you’ll have to set it up all over again.

The best smart plug for energy monitoring 

Connectivity: Thread / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Matter, Samsung SmartThings / Max wattage and amperage: 1,800 watts; 15 amps Two or three prongs: Three / Dimmable: No / Energy monitoring: Yes / Indoor or outdoor: Indoor

This Thread-enabled smart plug has the most comprehensive energy monitoring of any model I tested. The Eve app gives you information about your consumption, the estimated cost of running the device by the minute, day, or week, and charts detailing the total consumption and the total cost by the hour, day, week, or month. There’s even a usage log updated every ten minutes if you want to get really granular with the stats. Energy monitoring data is only available in the Eve app.

The Eve Energy Smart Plug also works with Matter and all of the major platforms, but it’s especially easy to set up and control in the Apple Home app. That makes this model our favorite Apple Home-compatible smart plug, along with its top-notch energy tracking capabilities. It does require a Thread border router, and in a multiplatform house, Thread can be a bit of a headache.

Spending 40 bucks for a single plug is pretty steep, but Eve does sell a two-pack for $75, so you can at least save a little cash if you know you want more than one. 

The best outdoor smart plug

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 2.4 GHz / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings / Max wattage and amperage: 300 watts (incandescents), 150 watts (LEDs); 4 amps / Two or three prongs: Three / Dimmable: Yes / Energy monitoring: No / Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor, IP64

The Kasa KP405 is great for many of the same reasons as our top pick, the Kasa KP125M. It uses the same straightforward Kasa app with quick access to on / off control, scheduling, Away Mode, and a timer. It’s also currently on sale for $19 (it’s usually $30). 

This product is IP64-rated for outdoor use, which means it is “dust-tight” and “protected against splashing water,” according to the International Electrotechnical Commission. It’s also dimmable. That means this outdoor smart plug is specifically designed for string lights, holiday lights, or any other outdoor lighting you’d plug into an outlet. 

I especially like how easy it is to adjust your lights in the app via preset buttons that quickly change them from 100 to 75, 50, and 25 percent brightness. There’s also a simple interface for a more customizable dimming range, should you want to set yours at a different level.

This model doesn’t currently support Matter or work with Apple Home. It also doesn’t offer energy monitoring.

Other smart plugs we tested

Leviton’s Decora Smart Plug (D215P-2RW) is a fine smart plug, but it’s expensive and doesn’t offer anything special that wasn’t already available on our top pick, the TP-Link Kasa KP125M.

The Meross Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini’s design doesn’t allow for two of its plugs to fit together on a single outlet, though I did fit one Meross plug and a typical three-prong laptop plug on the same two-outlet wall plate.

The Meross Smart Wi-Fi Plug (MSS120) has two outlets per unit, so you can control double the devices for your money. But two MSS120 plugs don’t fit on the same dual-outlet electrical plate. It was also a little fiddly to set up.

The Onvis Smart Plug S4 randomly disappeared from the list of devices in the Onvis app. If you plan to use a smart home platform to control and manage your device, this is less of an issue but otherwise seriously hurts its usability. 

TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim with Energy Monitoring (EP25) and the company’s Kasa KP125M we like best overall share a similar list of features, but this model does not support Matter. If you have no interest in Matter, the EP25 is a good alternative.

The Leviton Decora Smart Outdoor Plug-In Switch (D215O-1RE) worked reliably during testing, and it supports Matter. Unfortunately, one of these plugs costs a whopping $56 and just doesn’t do enough to justify its high price. 

The Wyze Plug is the most affordable model we tested, but it doesn’t offer as many smart home integrations as our top choice, the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini (MSS110).

While the affordable Wyze Plug Outdoor has two outlets and offers energy monitoring, it’s missing the dimming function and well-designed app available on our favorite outdoor plug, the TP-Link Kasa KP405. 

A note on Matter

None of the seven Matter-compatible smart plugs I tested for this guide connected to more than one platform without issuing “Unable to Add Accessory” error messages. Whether over Wi-Fi or Thread, the standard was very finicky about the order I used to connect each platform to a given smart plug. Many of them let me add Apple Home first without complaint but then stubbornly and inexplicably refused to accept anything else after it. 

I spent a lot of time resetting connections and trying again in a different order. I ultimately liked the Kasa KM125M the most when using Matter. It didn’t require signing up for any sort of software update like Leviton’s indoor plugs, and once I finally got all of the platforms added, it worked quickly and reliably. Adding Google Home first, followed by Apple Home, and then Amazon Alexa worked the best in the end, but I couldn’t tell you why. 

And that gets to my main gripe with Matter today: the instructions are unclear or, worse, nonexistent. It’s a lot like Apple Home was in its earliest HomeKit days — a platform that was released into the world before the requisite infrastructure was in place to help make sense of it.

Matter has a lot of potential, but it definitely isn’t an effortless enabler of multiple platforms under one roof right now. That’s gonna take some time. 

(Read this primer on Matter if you’re totally lost. And check out our list of every Matter device available today to see what products the standard supports right now.)

The smart home isn’t perfect. No matter how many times a company claims “seamless” integration with third-party devices or “effortless” use of voice commands to bend your connected gadgets to your will, there’s no one platform that gets everything exactly right. Depending on your specific needs, any of the major options — Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit (now just Home), Google Home, Home Assistant, or Samsung SmartThings — could be the best fit for you and your home. Recently, I’ve been taking a long look at Google Home.

Google got a lot right when it bought Nest in 2014, but it ramped up too slowly, releasing only a modest trickle of new connected home hardware before eventually introducing its first Google Assistant-powered smart speaker in 2016. That was followed by a protracted rebranding once Google decided the smart home was indeed a thing. The tech giant brought Nest officially under the Google name in 2019, which involved a frustratingly glitchy software migration from the Nest app to Google Home.

But now, at last, a Google-led smart home is starting to make sense. 

The newly updated Google Home app improves a lot of basic smart home functions. Google’s refreshed software also comes with a long-awaited addition: support for Matter on the Google Home app with an iPhone running iOS 16.5. 

Put all that together, plus Google Nest’s pretty strong lineup of branded products, and the Google smart home is finally hitting its stride. But before I talk about where it is today and how I use it, let’s take a brief look at the history of Google’s smart home attempts.

Working backward

Google didn’t take a linear path to building its smart home platform. In 2014, it bought Nest, then a startup with just two products: the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector. Later the same year, Nest, now a part of Google (but still operating separately from its corporate owner), purchased startup Dropcam, maker of Wi-Fi security cameras, and replaced the Dropcam Pro with a similar Nest-branded camera, the Nest Cam. Nest also introduced a couple next-gen versions of its thermostat and smoke detector and created Works with Nest, its own platform consisting of third-party device partners that integrated with its products.

Then things began to change. Google Assistant arrived, followed shortly after by Google’s first smart speaker. Finally, five years after buying it, Google announced it was moving Nest under its purview, making the former startup Google’s official smart home brand.

The move from Nest to Google Nest was fraught with all kinds of problems. Google did away with the Works with Nest platform, which ended certain integrations for existing Nest users. The Google Home app didn’t support all Nest devices, which meant that, in some cases, you had to use the old Nest app for certain products and the new Google Home app for others (this is still an ongoing issue for some legacy products). 

There were also some privacy concerns around the same time concerning an undisclosed microphone built into the Nest Secure security system. The Nest Secure has since been discontinued and will no longer be supported in the Nest app starting in 2024. 

Currently, there are over a dozen Google Nest products, including four Google Assistant-driven smart speakers and displays that support “over 50,000 smart home devices from more than 10,000 popular brands,” according to Google. The latest version of the Google Home app, now live and rolling out to users, makes significant improvements for smart home configuration and control. 

“OK, Google, build me a smart home”

Google’s smart home platform has broad appeal due to its wide variety of third-party partners and easy setup and control, especially now that the app has been overhauled. 

If you have an Android phone, you can simply use that to command your various compatible connected devices. If you have an iPhone, you can access Google Assistant through the Google Home app. In either case, you can also use one of their smart speakers or displays. 

Personally, after years of testing Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and other voice assistants with all sorts of products and different commands, Google Assistant overwhelmingly feels more natural. It does a great job answering general questions clearly and thoroughly without either misunderstanding me or not knowing the answer.

My current setup includes an iPhone with the Google Home app, a Google Nest Hub Max smart display, a couple of Nest Protect smoke detectors and a Nest Thermostat E. As far as third-party integrations go, I currently have a bunch of Wyze lights and an old Wyze Cam v2, though as a product reviewer, I’m regularly swapping products in and out for testing. 

The Google Nest Hub Max’s audio quality and display resolution are strong enough for me to overcome my general dislike of smart displays. I can easily view my connected products on the display and make adjustments there if I don’t have my phone handy — or use a quick voice command. 

I also really like being able to control my thermostat on my smart display. Unfortunately, the Nest Thermostat E has since been discontinued in the US, though you can still find it on Amazon. I’ve also tested the Nest Learning Thermostat and the newer Nest Thermostat, and they’re both solid products as well that I can comfortably recommend as part of a Google smart home. 

While I don’t currently have any Google Nest cameras or doorbells installed at home, I’ve tested most of them and consider them excellent security devices. In fact, a huge part of my interest in a Google smart home lies with these Google Nest products. I’ve tested many Nest devices over the years, and most of them have stood out from the competition due to their attractive hardware and strong performance. It’s worth noting, though, that Google typically charges a premium for its products, which won’t fit with everyone’s budget. That’s especially true if you want to outfit your home with multiple thermostats, smoke detectors, cameras, and doorbells to cover different levels and entry points.

If you have a Chromecast with Google TV, you can view your Google Nest camera or doorbell’s live feed on your TV — and use Google Assistant on the Chromecast remote to play your favorite shows.

I’d also wholeheartedly suggest Wyze light bulbs as part of your setup. They’re cheap, they work well, and they’re compatible with Google Assistant. I have a combination of their white-light-only and color-changing bulbs. All of them are dimmable and have adjustable white-light color temperature, so you can switch between cooler-toned white light during the day when you’re trying to get things done and warmer light in the evening as you wind down. 

In fact, you may already have a device at home that’s compatible with Google. Check out your device options to see what companies and specific products will work.

Working with Google Home

While you can use the Google Home app or the touchscreen on your smart display to control your smart home devices, the core (and, in my opinion, best) functionality is tied to voice commands. Say, “OK, Google” or “Hey, Google” to kick things off.

I use these types of commands often, especially when there’s something I can’t schedule, like asking Google for the current weather in my area or the local traffic report. I also use commands to make one-off adjustments to my lights and thermostat separate from their normal schedule. 

Those individual “OK, Google” commands are nice, but Routines (Google’s word for customizable smart home automations) are even better. Routines can modify the thermostat, lights, and garage door simultaneously, and all with just one command. For example, if I say, “OK, Google, goodnight,” the voice assistant adjusts my various connected lights for bedtime, as well as the thermostat. You can also create schedules with Routines so it’s a bit more automated and doesn’t require a voice command as a prompt, such as, “At sunrise, open my window shades and turn off my outdoor lights.”

It’s basic, but having a single “OK, Google” command to handle multiple things saves me a small amount of time each day. It probably also means I’m saving money and energy over time because I’m less likely to leave lights on or forget to adjust the thermostat during parts of the day when we need less heat or AC.

Google has also updated the available options for triggers in Routines. Rather than just a voice command, a specific time, at sunrise or sunset, or turning off an alarm, you can now start a routine “when a device does something,” which is a major upgrade. That means you can start an automation when your camera detects motion or when your lights, smart plugs, or any other compatible devices do something. 

Room for improvement

On the other hand, I wish Google’s smart home (or any of them, really) was a bit more predictive. The smart home is likely some time off from this, but I’d love to see Google’s platform advance to the point where it knows exactly what you want and automatically makes those changes on your behalf. 

For example, what if in the morning when I woke up, the shades opened and the lights turned on automatically? Then, as I headed downstairs, what if my electric kettle started boiling and the smart display in the kitchen started giving me a news briefing, all without me saying a word? Yes, I could schedule some of these things today, but I don’t always get up at the exact same time every day. I could use a voice command, too, but it would be even easier if I didn’t even have to ask Google Assistant to read me the news. 

There are other improvements I’d appreciate. In addition to Nest Secure and Dropcam (both of which are being discontinued next year anyway), the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector still isn’t supported by the Google Home app. The lack of support for the Protect seems particularly odd since it was one of Nest’s first devices. Google has had plenty of time to figure out how to migrate it over effectively. And yet, it doesn’t work. 

That means anyone who uses a Protect smoke detector along with other Google Nest devices likely needs both apps, which is annoying. Fortunately, that’s supposed to change soon, but again, as with motion triggers for Routines, I haven’t seen it yet in the latest version of my Google Home app.

What’s coming

I’m curious to see how Matter works with the Google Home app on my iPhone running iOS 16.5. The software update only just went live, so I haven’t had much time to mess around with it. In theory, it should make it even easier to set up and use smart devices. Despite my feelings about smart displays, I am interested in trying out my Google Nest Hub Max as a Matter hub. I’m also excited to experiment with the refreshed Google Home app a bit more. The updated app and iPhone support for Matter make Google’s platform significantly more appealing.

Things still aren’t perfect in the Google smart home, but many of the pieces we’ve been waiting for are finally coming together. We just had to get through Google Nest’s awkward teenage years.