Cheaper Smart Thermostat Alternatives To Google Nest In 2026

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A conventional thermostat may not be a part of your home or business that you think about all that often, and maybe because you've never had a "problem" with it. But after a particularly grueling summer nets you a massive electricity bill, it makes one wonder if a smart thermostat from a major brand would be beneficial in some way. It's natural to have a bit of sticker shock from looking at online and in-store prices for smart thermostats; most of these devices are $150 or more, unless you decide to go with the base Google Nest Thermostat.

For $130, the Nest isn't a bad thermostat at all, but it's not the only budget-friendly temperature regulator on the market. There's a small handful of smart thermostats that you could choose over the Google Nest entry model, and the most that you'll spend is $114 (plus tax) for one of the more advanced sub-$100 thermostats on Amazon. To make shopping even easier for you, we selected four of the best low-cost alternatives to the Nest Thermostat and listed them below.

Thermostat brands like Honeywell have been around for many years, which bodes well for those looking to make a smart home purchase that'll last a long time. If you're trying to keep the cost low and want a decent pool of remote access features, you should take a look at the $80 Honeywell Home Smart Thermostat. Once connected to Wi-Fi, you'll be able to download the First Alert app to control and monitor your thermostat; options include custom scheduling, auto-away functionality, a change filter reminder, and several other customizations.

This is a Matter-certified thermostat, too, which makes it easy to add and manage the Honeywell Home across multiple smart home platforms. Speaking of which, the thermostat can be added to Alexa and Google Home ecosystems, and you won't need Matter to do so. The Home can also control two heating and cooling zones simultaneously (or two heating and one heat pump).

Amazon shoppers gave the Honeywell 4.3 out of five stars, and most of the 250+ reviews are at the five-star tier. However, one Amazon shopper who rated it three stars mentioned an Alexa compatibility issue. Ecosystem controls are a big reason folks buy smart tech in the first place, but in this case, it looks like Honeywell switched over to a new app, which may have prevented Alexa from properly onboarding the thermostat.

I actually own the $80 Sensi Lite Smart Thermostat, and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. The Sensi Lite nails the smart home basics, but holds off on some of the bells and whistles that push other thermostats past the $130 mark. This is a great thermostat for apartment dwellers, because it doesn't require a C-wire to interface with most traditional HVAC systems. As a matter of fact, the entire install took less than half an hour, and that was taking things slowly.

Available in black or white finishes, the Sense Lite has basic touchscreen controls, but keeps its more advanced tools in the Sensi app. Switching between heating and cooling can be done in a matter of seconds with your phone, and you'll also be able to use Alexa and Google Assistant to raise and lower the temperature, and to ask what the thermostat's currently set to. Custom scheduling and energy monitoring are other features that can be accessed remotely.

Amazon shoppers gave the Sensi Lite a 4.1 out of five-star rating, which was based on over 2,000 reviews. It is worth mentioning that Alexa and Sensi don't always sync up correctly. To solve this problem, the I installed the Samsung SmartThings app, added the Sensi Lite to it, and then added the SmartThings skill to the Alexa app. Yes, it's a bit of a roundabout method, but I haven't had a problem since.

The $114 Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat (Silver) isn't that much cheaper than the Google Nest, but it's definitely a device worth mentioning. Consider this a "premium" selection of the list, and the one option that requires a C-wire for most installs. You may be thinking this thermostat looks near-identical to the Sensi Lite, and you wouldn't be wrong, but they're actually quite different from each other.

First of all, the Sensi Touch has a full color touchscreen that's more appealing to look at than the Lite's B&W interface. The Touch carries over the Lite's Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, but also adds support for Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings. Additionally, the Touch can be paired with Sensi remote sensors (sold separately) for more accurate temperature controls in the areas of your home that aren't near the thermostat. The Touch can also be interfaced with whole-home humidifier/dehumidifier systems.

But maybe the biggest difference between the Touch and Lite is that the former requires a C-wire for all installs, while the latter skirts by without it (most of the time). Simply put, if you're looking to score as many thermostat features as possible and don't want to spend more than $130, the Sensi Touch is a solid.

Last but not least, there's the $80 Amazon Smart Thermostat, a device that hit the market in November 2021. This is pretty much Amazon's direct competitor to the base Google Nest Thermostat, and it checks all the boxes for remote temperature management; specifically, custom scheduling, energy dashboard monitoring, and Alexa integration.

You'll be able to control the thermostat using both the Alexa and Ring apps, with the former even leaning on Alexa's hunches feature to automatically adjust the temperature when everyone's asleep or no one's home. The more you use the Alexa app to control the thermostat, the better it gets at learning your preferred temperature settings; you can even say "goodnight" and "I'm leaving" to Alexa to help it learn when it's bedtime and when you've left the building.

The thermostat face gives you basic up/down temperature controls, and a mode button for switching between heating and cooling. You could do a lot worse for $80, but there are a couple of items worth addressing. The first is that the Amazon Smart Thermostat typically requires a C-wire for most installations. You also won't be able to use Google Home or Apple HomeKit to control the device (it exclusively works with Alexa), and it won't connect to 5GHz network bands.

Smart home gadgets continue to make our lives easier and more convenient, especially when you're talking about a product that has a direct impact on physical comfort. When choosing smart thermostats for this roundup, we stuck to reliable brands that have been producing temperature tech for decades (save for the Amazon Smart Thermostat).

Each of our selections costs less than the $130 Google Nest Thermostat, and we also chose thermostats that scored 4 stars or higher from Amazon shoppers.