Aqara sensors without the Aqara hub
Aqara's small, cheap Zigbee sensors work perfectly without Aqara's hub. Pair them with a Zigbee dongle and Gladys Assistant, and automate them locally with every other brand.
Aqara makes some of the most popular smart home sensors: tiny door and window contacts, motion sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, leak detectors and wireless buttons, all running for months or years on a coin cell. Most of them are Zigbee devices.
You don't need an Aqara hub or the Aqara app to use them. Gladys Assistant, a free and open-source smart home platform, installs Zigbee2MQTT for you: pair your Aqara sensors with a Zigbee USB dongle and use them in local scenes, next to your lights, plugs and thermostats from any brand.
Why use Aqara sensors without the hub
The Aqara hub and app work, but:
- The Aqara app and many hub features depend on Aqara's cloud and account.
- Automations stay mostly inside the Aqara world, with limited options to mix in other brands.
- Each hub is one more box and one more app to maintain.
- Your sensor history lives in Aqara's app rather than on your own machine.
Paired with a local Zigbee coordinator, the same sensors become building blocks you can use anywhere.
Aqara sensors that work great in Gladys
These Aqara Zigbee device types map directly to Gladys features:
Open/closed state for alarms, heating that turns off when a window opens, and notifications.
Turn lights on when someone enters, or arm the alarm when the house is empty.
Room-by-room climate on your dashboard, with history and charts.
Get an alert and close a water valve automatically when a leak is detected.
Know when the washing machine has finished, or when a door is being forced.
Single, double and long press, each one triggering a different scene.
How to pair Aqara sensors without the hub
On a mini-PC or a Raspberry Pi running Gladys:
- Plug a Zigbee coordinator into the machine and enable Zigbee2MQTT in Gladys.
- Remove the sensor from the Aqara app if it was paired with an Aqara hub.
- In Gladys, open Zigbee2MQTT → Discover and permit joining.
- Hold the sensor's reset button for about five seconds until its LED blinks, then keep it close to the coordinator while it pairs.
- Add it to a room and to your dashboard, then use it in scenes.
Aqara sensors are known to be picky about which Zigbee routers they connect through. If one keeps dropping off, check the Zigbee2MQTT notes for that model and prefer routers known to work well with Aqara devices.
Good to know before you buy
Not every recent Aqara device is Zigbee. Some newer models, such as the Door and Window Sensor P2 and the Motion and Light Sensor P2, use Thread and Matter instead: those don't pair with Zigbee2MQTT, but Gladys can control Matter devices through a Thread border router. Check the protocol on the box, and the Zigbee2MQTT device list for the exact model.
Gladys is free and open source, has been developed since 2013, and runs entirely on your own hardware.
Go further
More devices without their hub:
Frequently asked questions
Can Aqara sensors work without the Aqara hub?
Yes, Aqara's Zigbee sensors can be paired with any compatible Zigbee coordinator through Zigbee2MQTT. With Gladys Assistant and a Zigbee USB dongle, you use them locally without the Aqara hub, app or account.
Which Aqara sensors work with Zigbee2MQTT?
More than 200 Aqara devices are listed: door and window sensors, motion sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, leak detectors, vibration sensors and wireless buttons. Check the exact model on the Zigbee2MQTT supported devices list, as newer Thread/Matter models are not Zigbee.
Why does my Aqara sensor keep disconnecting?
Aqara and Xiaomi end devices don't look for a new parent when their router disappears, and some routers are known to cause drop-offs, according to the Zigbee2MQTT documentation (certain Centralite, GE, Ledvance/OSRAM, Legrand, Sylvania and SmartThings devices). Pair them right next to the coordinator, and prefer routers that work well with Aqara, such as IKEA Tradfri plugs and repeaters.
Do I lose anything without the Aqara hub?
You lose the Aqara app, its cloud features and hub-specific functions like the hub's built-in siren or camera. The sensors' readings and events work fully in Gladys, where you build your own scenes.
Free your Aqara sensors
Gladys is free, open source and installs with a single Docker command. Plug in a Zigbee dongle and pair your first Aqara sensor.