So I’ve been in the real world lately (pandemic) and have finally had a chance to catch up on this thread.
SAS model would be OK if two prerequisites were met: local operation without cloud requirement and reasonable cost. <$50 a year. We have seen nothing great from Vera in the past so paying more for a 1990s looking interface including the current app will not justify a higher cost.
Many of us have been looking because all though this has not been perfect its been good enough as a base and with such advancements that the 3rd party developers have done have made the platform viable thus far(people such as the caliber of rigpapa,amg0, akboer, reneb, rafale77, and so many more too many to mention but you and I know who they are).
The ONLY reason this company exists (until you bought them),was because of the users and developers who fixed the flaws, shortcomings, and lack of functionality and stuck with it. Bear that fact in mind.
These are the people who can keep you going or leave and depart and you will not have the starting point you have now. Bear that in mind-- this is not a threat but reads harshly…because it IS a business fact, for this platform, up to now.
I received an EZlo atom and when it became obvious that it was cloud based only the beta was over for me (and likely many others) because we want systems that work off the web and are controllable as such. We don’t want/can’t accept/use home automation software that fails to be controllable without calling home for instructions, updates, user control etc. That being said the small size to use a mini network was intriguing and might help mitigate signal issues with zwave if controllable locally but otherwise was a nonstarter for me.
All the current options for dashboard controls and apps are marginal at best. Including the vera app.
I may stop my search to jump ship if you develop a product (software/hardware) that builds on what is already here in terms of functionality and integration. Otherwise paying for something subscription that controls a solution that does improve on the current functionality (even if free) will drive many of us if not all of us away.
I have found a remote dashboard solution that integrates many unrelated products and platforms, gives granular control of all locally or via cloud, is <5$ for the app, the app runs on all platforms, and the development of your screens are shareable between platforms and even users agnostic to the platform it was developed on or used on, and can even be developed or edited in the actual remote app called The Home Remote. And its technically far superior to anything out there. And actively developed for.
The only other solution I’m currently interested in is Rigpapa’s because of obvious plugin accomplishments and knowledge … because if something were to be done the right way, I am beyond confident that he’s done it.
Ps I would welcome a hardware solution think transceiver that would run on my network and I could load the main software into a server of my choosing (old laptop, small form factor pc, or in my case, a VM on a server) that would allow us to select the resources and update them as needed as our needs change. You could sell small form factor pcs to run it on if people couldn’t or wouldn’t source their own. It allows the software and transceivers to be the hardware and the rest to be upgradable outside of that realm. It works for many other industries and software products ie firewalls.
Sorry if TLDR and not the exact answer to the question but must be said…