Home Assistant Apps: Official Docker Add-ons
/addons
Home Assistant Apps is the official collection of Docker services, formerly called add-ons, that plug into a Home Assistant install through its frontend: an MQTT broker, a MariaDB database, a Let's Encrypt certificate manager. Reach for it for infrastructure Home Assistant doesn't ship, installable without a terminal; skip it if you need custom automation logic — these are backing services, not automations.
What Are Home Assistant Apps?
Home Assistant Apps is the official repository of Docker-based extensions, renamed from "add-ons," that add supporting services around a Home Assistant setup rather than living inside Home Assistant's own codebase. Some apps are standalone services Home Assistant talks to, like the Mosquitto MQTT broker or a MariaDB database; others reach into the Home Assistant configuration itself, like the Samba file share or the browser-based File Editor.
Key Apps in This Repository
- ✓Mosquitto broker gives Home Assistant a self-hosted MQTT broker, and MariaDB adds a full SQL database backend in place of the default recorder storage.
- ✓deCONZ and Z-Wave JS bridge Zigbee and Z-Wave hardware into Home Assistant — deCONZ via a ConBee or RaspBee USB stick from dresden elektronik, Z-Wave JS via a USB Z-Wave controller.
- ✓Let's Encrypt and the NGINX SSL proxy handle certificate issuance and route external traffic over HTTPS on port 443, redirected from port 80.
- ✓Duck DNS keeps a dynamic DNS hostname pointed at your IP and folds in Let's Encrypt HTTPS support.
- ✓SSH server and the File editor (configurator) app give you a terminal and a browser-based config editor without installing anything outside Home Assistant.
- ✓Samba share exposes the Home Assistant config directory over Windows file sharing so you can edit YAML from another machine.
- ✓Git pull syncs Home Assistant configuration files from a Git repository, while CEC Scanner and Dnsmasq add HDMI-CEC device discovery and a lightweight DNS server.
- ✓RPC Shutdown remotely powers down Windows machines from Home Assistant.
How to Install Home Assistant Apps
Installation happens entirely inside the Home Assistant UI: each app in this repository gets added and configured from the frontend, on any system that already runs Home Assistant. The README doesn't walk through add-on-store mechanics such as adding this repository as a custom source, or give step-by-step screenshots, so treat the frontend flow itself as the documented method. Check each individual app's own linked README for its specific configuration — deCONZ needs a ConBee or RaspBee device passed through, for instance, while Mosquitto just needs starting.
Strengths
- ✓Every app installs from inside the Home Assistant frontend itself — no separate Docker knowledge needed to run one.
- ✓Covers a genuinely wide functional spread: MQTT, a SQL database, Zigbee/Z-Wave bridging, DNS, SSL certificates, remote file access, and remote shutdown, all in one repository.
- ✓Apache-2.0 licensing keeps the apps free of copyleft obligations if you build on or fork one.
- ✓Maintained by the Home Assistant project itself, rather than a scattered set of community forks.
- ✓Support channels are already established and active: Discord, a community forum, and a subreddit, instead of a lone maintainer's inbox.
Considerations for App Use
- △Installing and configuring apps happens only through the Home Assistant frontend — the README gives no command-line or headless install path for this repository.
- △Each app is a separate Docker service with its own configuration surface; the top-level README doesn't document version numbers, update cadence, or a changelog for any individual app.
- △Support runs through Discord, the community forum, and Reddit rather than dedicated documentation pages for troubleshooting a specific app.
- △Hardware-dependent apps like deCONZ and Z-Wave JS need specific USB controllers (ConBee/RaspBee, a Z-Wave USB stick) — they're useless without that hardware.
- △The repository covers infrastructure services, not automation logic, so it won't help with anything inside Home Assistant's automation engine itself.
Developing Your Own Apps
Frequently Asked Questions
Home Assistant Apps install and get configured directly through the Home Assistant frontend, on any system where Home Assistant is already running — no separate download or terminal step is documented.
Home Assistant Apps add supporting services around a Home Assistant install: an MQTT broker, a MariaDB database, Zigbee/Z-Wave hardware bridges, SSL certificate handling, remote file access, and more, per the repository's own list.
Developing your own Home Assistant app is something the README itself encourages, pointing to the existing apps here as a useful model and linking to Home Assistant's official add-on developer documentation for the actual steps.
Home Assistant Apps are released under the Apache-2.0 license, as listed on the GitHub repository.
Support for Home Assistant Apps is community-based: Home Assistant runs a Discord server for real-time chat, a Community Forum for longer threads, and the r/homeassistant subreddit on Reddit; bugs get reported as GitHub issues on the repository.
Home Assistant Apps are Docker-based by design — the repository's own GitHub description calls them "Docker add-ons for Home Assistant," with each app packaged as its own container.
The problem it solves
Standing up a full smart-home stack usually means running several separate services next to Home Assistant: an MQTT broker for Zigbee and Z-Wave integrations, a proper database instead of SQLite, a reverse proxy for HTTPS. Normally that means learning Docker Compose, writing your own container configs, and updating them by hand — real infrastructure work. Home Assistant Apps skips most of it. It packages those adjacent services as pre-built containers you add from the same frontend you already use for Home Assistant itself, so the pieces around your setup don't demand separate infrastructure knowledge to run.
Best use cases
- •Bridging Zigbee hardware into Home Assistant with deCONZ, once you have a ConBee or RaspBee USB stick from dresden elektronik.
- •Swapping Home Assistant's default recorder database for MariaDB when SQLite starts to strain under years of history.
- •Exposing Home Assistant to the internet with the NGINX SSL proxy and Let's Encrypt instead of hand-rolling a reverse-proxy container.
- •Editing YAML configuration from another machine over Samba, or in the browser with the File editor app, without SSH-ing in first.
- •Keeping a Home Assistant config in version control and pulling updates automatically with Git pull.
Who should try it — and who should skip
Try Home Assistant Apps if you're already running Home Assistant and want infrastructure pieces — an MQTT broker, a real database, Zigbee/Z-Wave bridging, HTTPS — added through the same frontend instead of hand-building Docker containers next to it. Skip it if you're not running Home Assistant at all, or if what you actually need is an automation or dashboard change, since none of these apps touch Home Assistant's automation engine.
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Is addons worth your time?
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