Samsung to charge developers for SmartThings API access from October

Samsung will begin charging for SmartThings API access from October, opening with a $4.99 monthly plan for non-commercial, individual developers and separate paid tiers for commercial use. The change shifts the cost of access onto the people building automations, integrations and niche services on top of the platform, while Samsung says the millions of households using the SmartThings app with Works with SmartThings devices will not be affected.

The company outlined the change in a June 23 blog post, saying the new pricing is part of a move to a structured API model meant to improve platform stability, optimize integrations and expand capabilities. Samsung said the API will continue to provide access to Samsung device states, controls and health data, with additional functionality planned. The current API supports Matter, Cloud-to-Cloud, Zigbee and Z-Wave, and Samsung says it is used in short-term rentals, hospitality, property tech, telecommunications, security and senior care.

Samsung is pitching the move as an upgrade to the developer stack rather than a consumer fee. SmartThings now says it has more than 460 million registered users and hundreds of Works with SmartThings partner brands, a scale that gives the company leverage to monetize the layer beneath the app. In practice, the first customers to pay are likely to be independent developers, hobbyists and small startups that rely on direct API calls to keep custom routines, device bridges and specialized service tools running.

The company has also expanded the SmartThings Developer Center and Console, which now groups integration, testing, certification and analytics into a single workflow. Samsung says the console offers guided tools and certification requirements in one place, reinforcing a more managed and more tightly controlled platform. SmartThings’ own documentation says the business is based in Mountain View, California and operates independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

The pricing change landed as SmartThings Community users began dissecting what will and will not be charged. A thread on the announcement drew 52 replies and 758 views by June 26, underscoring how quickly the policy moved from product update to community flashpoint. Samsung has spent recent months adding features and partnerships, including a Home Assistant integration announced on January 25, 2026 and SmartThings updates on April 16 and April 21, but the new API fees mark a clearer turn from open-platform language toward rent-charging gatekeeping in the smart-home economy.