The best home weather station for your smart home
How to measure temperature, humidity and more at home, in a way that actually works with Gladys, either fully local with Zigbee and Matter sensors, or with a connected station.
A weather station tells you what is happening at home and outside: temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and sometimes wind and rain. But most consumer weather stations lock their data inside a manufacturer app and cloud, which is a poor fit for a local smart home.
With Gladys Assistant you have two good options. The most local one is to build your own station from Zigbee and Matter sensors that Gladys reads directly on your network. If you want a ready-made station with a wind and rain gauge, the Netatmo Weather Station connects through its integration. This guide covers both.
What to look for in a smart weather station
Before buying, a few things matter more than the number of features on the box:
- Local vs cloud: can you read the data on your own network, or does it only live in the manufacturer's app? A local sensor keeps working even without internet and never depends on a cloud that could shut down.
- Indoor and outdoor coverage: for a real weather picture you usually want at least one indoor and one outdoor sensor (temperature and humidity, ideally atmospheric pressure too).
- Protocol: for a local setup, prefer Zigbee (via Zigbee2MQTT) or Matter. Both are open and let Gladys read the values directly.
- Extras: only a few products measure wind and rain. If you need those, a connected station like Netatmo is the realistic option today.
- Battery life and range: outdoor sensors run on batteries and sit far from the house, so good battery life and range matter for reliability.
The good news: whichever route you pick below, Gladys brings the readings into one dashboard and lets you automate on them.
The local route: Zigbee and Matter sensors
This is the most local option: compose your own weather station from sensors Gladys reads directly, with no manufacturer cloud. These are supported through Zigbee2MQTT or Matter:
A tiny, affordable Zigbee sensor that reports temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. One of the devices we already recommend for Gladys. Pairs through Zigbee2MQTT.
A Zigbee temperature and humidity sensor with an e-ink screen, so you also get a readout on the wall. Reliable and cheap, pairs through Zigbee2MQTT.
A Zigbee temperature sensor with a waterproof external probe, ideal for measuring outdoor or fridge/freezer temperature. Listed in the Gladys Zigbee catalogue.
A weatherproof outdoor sensor measuring temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. It speaks Thread and Matter, so Gladys can read it locally through the Matter integration.
To pair the Zigbee sensors you just need a Zigbee dongle. See our guide to picking the right one.
The connected-station route: Netatmo and OpenWeather
Want a ready-made station with a wind and rain gauge, or weather data with no hardware at all? These connect to Gladys too:
A complete connected weather station: indoor and outdoor modules, with optional wind and rain gauges. It runs through Netatmo's cloud, and Gladys reads its values through the Netatmo integration. The realistic choice if you want wind and rain today.
If you just want current conditions and forecasts for your location, the OpenWeather integration brings weather data into Gladys for free, without buying any sensor. Great to complement your own sensors.
Cloud stations are convenient and feature-rich, but remember they depend on the manufacturer's servers. For anything you want to keep working offline, prefer the local sensors above.
Why bring your weather station into Gladys
On their own, each sensor or station lives in its own app. With Gladys, all your indoor and outdoor readings sit in one local dashboard, next to every other device in your home, and the historical data stays on your own hardware.
From there you can automate on the weather: close the blinds when it gets too hot, boost the heating when the outdoor temperature drops, send a frost alert before a cold night, or turn on a fan when indoor humidity climbs.
Go further
Adding weather sensors is part of building a local smart home:
The step-by-step guide to pairing Zigbee sensors with Zigbee2MQTT.
Which Zigbee coordinator to buy to pair your weather sensors locally.
Control your IKEA Tradfri and Dirigera devices locally, over Zigbee2MQTT or Matter.
Connect a Netatmo Weather Station and read its modules in Gladys.
The full list of Zigbee devices we recommend for a reliable Gladys home.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a weather station locally with Gladys, without the cloud?
Yes. The most local option is to build your own station from Zigbee or Matter sensors. Zigbee sensors like the Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensor or the Sonoff SNZB-02D pair through Zigbee2MQTT, and a Matter sensor like the Eve Weather is read over your network. Gladys reads these directly, with no manufacturer cloud, so they keep working offline.
Which weather sensors work with Gladys?
Any Zigbee temperature, humidity or pressure sensor supported by Zigbee2MQTT works, including Aqara, Sonoff and OWON models, as does any Matter temperature or humidity sensor such as the Eve Weather. For a full station with wind and rain, the Netatmo Weather Station connects through its integration.
Does Gladys work with the Netatmo Weather Station?
Yes. Gladys has a Netatmo integration that reads your indoor and outdoor modules, including the optional wind and rain gauges. Note that Netatmo relies on its cloud, so unlike local Zigbee or Matter sensors it needs an internet connection to work.
Can I get weather data in Gladys without buying a sensor?
Yes. The OpenWeather integration brings current conditions and forecasts for your location into Gladys for free, with no hardware. It is a great complement to your own indoor and outdoor sensors.
Can I automate my home based on the weather?
Yes, that is the main reason to bring weather data into Gladys. You can close the blinds when it gets too hot, boost the heating when the outdoor temperature drops, send a frost alert before a cold night, or start a fan when indoor humidity rises.
Build your local weather station
Gladys is free, open-source, and installs in a single Docker command. Pair a few sensors and read your home's climate locally, with automations that react to it.