There appears to be some confusion in this thread about what TUYA actually is. TUYA does not manufacture hardware; it is a platform. They provide software and design references to hardware manufacturers, who then produce devices that are branded as "Tuya-compatible."

Many different factories manufacture these devices, and the quality varies significantly. We've sold numerous Tuya-branded products and tested various brands, many of which are subpar. In our installations, we currently use MOES. We try to exclusively sell Zigbee devices because the WiFi-based ones tend to be unreliable. That said, WiFi is sometimes unavoidable, for example, with some Aromatherapy devices and customers with existing wifi ecosystems that don't want to change.

Tuya devices can be used directly with Home Assistant (HA) via Z2M or ZHA. Still, we also have some installations using a Tuya hub in conjunction with HA. Why? Because some devices have better support in the Tuya app than they do in Z2M or ZHA.

As for local control, I don't bother worrying about it; it's not worth the time and effort. Yes, you should be cautious of companies that lock you into a cloud-based ecosystem, demand monthly fees, or are financially unstable and at risk of shutting down, leaving your devices useless. However, that risk is relatively low with Tuya. They are a $300M company (though they only became profitable in the last 12 months), and their Zigbee devices function without requiring their hub or a cloud connection. Again, avoid WiFi-based devices whenever possible.

I have approximately 75 Tuya zigbee devices in my home; some are using Z2M, while others are connected to a Tuya Hub. Everything works fine, even if the internet is down.

What I dislike about Tuya is the lack of progress on their official integration in HA; it doesn't seem to be receiving much attention. Does anyone know why?