Shelly Plug: price comparison

Shelly is a smart home brand of the Bulgarian manufacturer Shelly Group. It became known for small relays that fit into flush-mounted wall boxes; there are now also plug adapters under the name Shelly Plug. The current third-generation plugs combine Wi-Fi with Bluetooth for setup and, depending on the model, also support Matter.

The key difference from many cheap Wi-Fi plugs: Shelly devices come with their own web interface and can be controlled via local interfaces such as HTTP, MQTT or scripts. So you don't depend on the manufacturer's cloud. If you use Home Assistant, ioBroker or openHAB, you can usually add Shelly devices in a few clicks.

The Shelly Plug M is a compact plug adapter with power metering whose slim design fits well on power strips. The Plug S is the classic compact version. There are also versions for other plug systems; when buying, make sure you get the version with the German Schuko plug (type F). Also check the maximum load in the datasheet – compact plug adapters are often not designed for the full 16 A.

Shelly suits you if you want to analyse readings over the long term, run automations locally or integrate your balcony solar system and larger appliances into an energy management setup. Some balcony solar batteries and energy managers can use Shelly readings as a data source – check compatibility with the respective manufacturer.

If you only want to switch a lamp by voice command, simpler models are often enough. With offers from third-party sellers, check the item condition and the exact model name.

Setup is done via the Shelly app over Bluetooth, or directly via the built-in access point and web interface. You can then connect the device to your Wi-Fi, create schedules and disable the cloud if you wish. In Home Assistant, ioBroker and many energy managers, power and energy appear as separate readings that can be used for automations and statistics.