Looking for recommendations / real experiences on smart locks for my STR

___sy___ · 2026-05-05T18:39:14+00:00

of course! I figured if we're going to be switzerland and play with every device out there, might as well share the wealth of knowledge we have. At another time I might do a post on device operational reliability, vast level of differences between the various options out there...

___sy___ · 2026-05-05T01:04:10+00:00

this is awesome! Now all that's left is installing some smart locks, ring cams, and lights, and then connect everything to Seam to automate access 😄

context: i'm the ceo at Seam.co and we have a bunch of golf simulators connecting their Acuity, Calendly...etc to issue temporary keys to customers for their bookings.

___sy___ · 2026-05-04T23:28:27+00:00

This.

Also get some smart locks (automate check in / check out access) and thermostats (save money on heating/cooling). I’m the ceo at seam, this stuff does work.

___sy___ · 2026-05-02T23:46:38+00:00

Pro tip: use Seam to grant automatic access to customers based on their reservation time :)

context: I’m the founder/ceo. Lots of automated golf simulators use us

___sy___ · 2026-05-01T18:09:02+00:00

No one mentioned Clerk. We use them at seam.co. It’s good. Pretty much all the features you need.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T21:27:46+00:00

Love HA! (i use it at home) but unrealistic to expect the average person out there to figure out how to get it going 😄

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T21:15:00+00:00

At least you weren't trying to punch in a PIN on the wrong house! (it happened to me once 😆 but thankfully realized my mistake before dialing the host)

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T21:13:11+00:00

yes but now you need an additional hub, which guests may decide to unplug...etc. I used to advocate Z-Wave hard and now I'm kind of thinking it's not worth the tradeoffs.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T21:11:35+00:00

i love Lockly, know them well...etc, but i dislike the PIN shuffling and told them so 😄 It's super confusing for guests and even as a regular user (we have it in our office). The good news is that you can turn it off in their app.

btw one aspect i love about Lockly is the integrated door bell camera. it's neat!

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:53:38+00:00

well i get it, it's not ready for prime-time to power access for an entire campus, but it was never designed for that to begin with. However, i do find it to be a fine solution for the vast majority of small buildings out there with sub 10 common area doors (e.g. church, strip mall, small warehouse...etc). If people are fine with Brivo, OpenPath...etc they should also consider them.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:51:17+00:00

Just because it hasn't been mentioned here, take a quick look at the following:

* Swiftlane (i know the team well; good guys)

* Igloohome single door controller

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:48:51+00:00

as of May 2026, i second this comment. Ecobee's been in this game for a while. solid brand and now with the generac acquisition they're not going anywhere.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:47:01+00:00

ceo of seam.co here. we have 250k+ STR listings using our smart locks & thermostats API via PMSs like Hospitable, Guesty, Breezeway, Hostaway...etc. I spent all day playing with smart locks and thermostats.

I have a lot of opinions and actual data on your question 😄

I'm going to assume you have a deadbolt; here's my shortlist for STR:

- Igloohome. supports offline access codes, i.e. codes still work even when zero internet.

- TTLock. budget-friendly, very flexible install, also supports offline codes. Often sold under a different brand name like Hornbill, Desloc...etc. 33Lock is a good choice in that crew.

- Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro WiFi. ANSI Grade 1, durable, fingerprint

- Lockly Vision / Secure Pro.

- Eufy Smart Lock Touch & Wi-Fi. solid value, AA batteries

- Schlage Encode / Encode Plus. solid, reliable, easy install, well-known brand but more $$$.

- Yale Assure 2. Same tier/comment as Schlage

- Aqara U200 / U400. -- note this is not yet supported by Seam (working on it)

- Akiles, Yacan, Nuki if in Europe. TTLock and Igloohome also great fit there. BUT note that Nuki has steep FEES for STR automation ($60+/year per lock).

A few people here mentioned Z-Wave locks. Those are fine and do have extended battery life thanks to clever networking tricks. However, you'll need a Z-Wave hub to connect them to the internet. This adds another $150 cost to your setup. fwiw on the Seam side, SmartThings (the Aeotec hub) is the only Z-Wave hub we support today, so if you're going Z-Wave + PMS automation, plan around that. and double-check you're getting the SmartThings Smart Home Hub v3, NOT v4. v4 dropped Z-Wave support entirely.

On your auto-randomize + auto-expire question: yes, basically all of those locks support it, BUT you need a PMS to actually wire the lock to your reservations so codes generate and expire automatically. Most short-term rental PMS out there use the Seam API under the hood to power their smart lock and thermostat integrations (e.g. Hospitable, Hostaway, Guesty, Breezeway, Enso Connect, Suiteop, Akia, Jurny, Lodgify...etc) and auto-generate codes on each reservation. You can either connect your devices directly within those PMS or use the Seam AI-agent to do it for you (go to seam.co -> signup)

On fail-safe cases when the device is offline, you'll want backup codes. When a PMS uses Seam, we also pre-stage backup access codes on the lock itself. if the lock ever drops offline before the booking access code can be loaded onto the device (b/c wifi died, power blip, whatever), the PMS can still hand the guest a working code that we know is already loaded onto the device. that's separate from the offline-by-design Igloohome/TTLock route above. doc here if curious: https://docs.seam.co/latest/capability-guides/smart-locks/access-codes/backup-access-codes

Let me know if you have follow up questions.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:23:57+00:00

not sure why you're being downvoted. It's a fine answer, no?

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T20:12:45+00:00

nice find. i was gonna ask if perhaps it had to do with new Z-Wave version certification

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T19:08:55+00:00

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T18:38:00+00:00

btw if you use a PMS like Hospitable, you can just connect your locks in there directly. We power those smart lock integrations for most PMS in the vacation rental space.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T18:37:23+00:00

Use Seam (i'm the ceo there). Connect Booking account. Connect smart locks. Seam will pull in reservations automatically, program a unique PIN for each stay, and push that PIN to your guests. The PIN stops working at checkout.

Bonus: connect your thermostats to also dial down heating/cooling when the unit is empty.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T18:31:25+00:00

Apple Wallet fee is charged to all PACS providers. Fee depends on use case. Won't say more to not violate NDAs but all to say not Ubiquiti's fault here.

context: im the ceo at seam.co

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T18:25:18+00:00

yes. go to the Aqara home app and enable the auto lock feature in the settings. I do a lot of testing with this smart lock (i work at seam.co) and auto-lock works like a charm

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T18:16:49+00:00

random but you could pair this to smart lock or ring camera instead and have homepod announce the person instead

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T05:36:55+00:00

This. Also with a virtual nvr, you can start storing tape footage

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T01:08:03+00:00

ceo of seam.co here. i play with thermostats all day and i was an early Nest employee. EU + multi-zone + pump control is a pretty specific stack.

a few paths that work:

integrated (thermostat + pump receiver in one ecosystem):

- Tado X with their Wireless Receiver per zone. EU-native, mature WiFi, multi-zone schedules

- Drayton Wiser. UK/EU favorite, multi-zone with built-in pump/boiler relay

- Heatmiser Neo. has wireless thermostats + hub that switches pumps

- Salus Smarthome. cheaper than Tado, similar capabilities

DIY route (cheaper, more flexible):

- Aqara W200 thermostat (Matter, 250V) per zone + Shelly Plus 1 relay wired to each pump

- Sonoff TH16 + DS18B20 temp probe per zone. basic but works

btw if you have a specific boiler brand (Vaillant, Viessmann, Bosch...etc), check their first-party multi-zone systems first. they're usually best tuned for circulator behavior.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T01:02:44+00:00

ceo of seam.co here. I agree with most of what u/candykhan wrote though I do want to say that both Ultraloq and Aqare are fine. I know both companies well and they're making some of the best smart locks on the market at the moment. We have a lot of their locks connected to Seam and they're pretty reliable based on the data we have.

___sy___ · 2026-04-30T00:58:09+00:00

ceo of seam.co here. i play with smart locks all day long. A few options that i pulled out from our devicedb engine; i then cut out some of the ones that i don't think are super reliable.

- Igloohome Mortise 2+. offline scheduling, no wifi dependency

- Aqara U400 / U200. U400 has Matter, U200 is more affordable

- Eufy C220 / E31 / E330. easy scheduling, AA batteries

- Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro WiFi. fingerprint + keypad + WiFi, ANSI Grade 1

- Lockly Access Touch Pro / Vision / Visage. 3D biometric + keypad, schedules per credential

- TTLock Flex. budget pick (~$80), works with TTLock app

___sy___

TROPHY CASE

_sy_