Apps and integrations
Integrations and apps both add features to Home Assistant, but they work differently. Integrations connect Home Assistant to your devices and services. Custom integrations are integrations that the community creates. Apps are separate applications that run alongside Home Assistant on the same system.
Integrations
An integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more. [Learn more] runs inside Home Assistant. It connects Home Assistant to a device or a service, for example, to your lights, your vacuum cleaner, or a weather service. An integration can add devices and entities that you can use in your dashboards and automations.
You add integrations under Settings > Devices & services. Integrations are available on all installation types. For documentation on the integrations that come with Home Assistant, refer to the list of integrations.
Custom integrations
A custom integrationA custom integration is an integration that has been created by someone from the Home Assistant community and has been published for others to use at their own risk. You can install custom integrations from the Marketplace. Custom integrations are not supported by the Home Assistant project. They are not reviewed or tested by the Home Assistant development team and thus may negatively impact the stability of your Home Assistant instance. An example of a custom integration is the Spook integration. [Learn more] is an integration that someone from the community creates. It works like the integrations that come with Home Assistant: it runs inside Home Assistant and allows you to add devices and entities. Custom integrations offer support for devices and services that Home Assistant doesn’t include.
You install custom integrations from the Marketplace. The Home Assistant project doesn’t make, test, or support them. For details, including the risks, refer to the Marketplace integration.
Apps
An app is a separate application. It runs next to Home Assistant, with its own settings and its own log. For example, the File editor app lets you edit your configuration files in your browser, and the Samba share app lets you open your Home Assistant folders from your computer.
Apps are only available on Home Assistant Operating SystemHome Assistant OS, the Home Assistant Operating System, is an embedded, minimalistic, operating system designed to run the Home Assistant ecosystem on single board computers (like the Raspberry Pi) or Virtual Machines. It includes Home Assistant Core, the Home Assistant Supervisor, and supports apps. Home Assistant Supervisor keeps it up to date, removing the need for you to manage an operating system. Home Assistant Operating System is the recommended installation type for most users.. You install apps from the app store under Settings > Apps > Install app. The app store includes official apps, and you can add app repositories from the community. You manage the apps that you installed under Settings > Apps. For the steps, refer to Installing and managing apps.
Each app uses disk space, memory, and processor time on your system, so only install the apps that you need.
Some integrations work together with an app. The documentation of the integration tells you if you need an app.
If you use Home Assistant ContainerHome Assistant Container is a standalone container-based installation of Home Assistant Core. Any OCI compatible runtime can be used, but the documentation focus is on Docker. [Learn more], you can’t install apps. Many apps are based on software that you can also run yourself, for example in its own container next to Home Assistant. If an integration needs that software, check the documentation of the integration for how to connect to it. To compare the installation types, refer to About installation types.