The open hardware index
What can your device become?
Local control, custom firmware, new features. Everything people found for the things they own, sorted by device, with how hard and how risky it is.
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34 devices checked by hand · 4,866 open projects indexed
Latest from the scene
What people are opening up, with sources.
Most open first
Graded A to E on what owners can do without the vendor.
- YoursHacker toolsFlipper ZeroA pocket multi-tool for the things you already own: your own badge, your own remotes, your own gate. Flashing your own firmware is an official, supported path, not a hack.4 ideas · 13 projects
- YoursRoutersRouters that take OpenWrtMost home routers run a stripped, closed Linux you never see. OpenWrt replaces it with a full one, built for owners: a real shell, a package manager, and a web UI that hides none of it.4 ideas · 12 projects
- YoursPlugs and switchesShelly relays and plugsMade to be controlled locally: a documented HTTP and MQTT API on every device, and the cloud is optional.4 ideas · 9 projects
- YoursHandheldsSteam DeckValve's own menu drops you into a full Linux desktop with root access, officially. It also documents installing Windows instead, no warranty voided either way.4 ideas · 4 projects
- YoursRobot vacuumsRoborock robot vacuumsOne of the most studied brands. Most models can be driven over your home network after one cloud login; some can drop the cloud entirely.4 ideas · 12 projects
- YoursPlugs and switchesSonoff relays and switchesCloud-first out of the box, but a short list of models answer to a genuine local API with no firmware change, and almost every model takes Tasmota.3 ideas · 29 projects
- YoursSpeakersTonieboxA cube with no screen that plays audio only when a figure sits on top, aimed at kids. TeddyCloud keeps every figure playing from a server you run, even on a box with no internet connection at all.3 ideas · 18 projects
- YoursRobot vacuumsDreame robot vacuumsWell supported by the community: a Home Assistant integration with the map, and Valetudo on many models once rooted.2 ideas · 6 projects
- YoursWearablesGarmin watchesA Garmin watch tracks a run, a swim or your heart rate with no account and no phone nearby. Connect IQ, Garmin's own SDK, lets you load your own watch face or app onto it directly, officially.3 ideas · 48 projects
- YoursE-readersKobo e-readersThe friendliest e-reader to tinker with: it installs add-ons copied over USB, no jailbreak needed.3 ideas · 19 projects
- YoursPlugs and switchesTuya and Smart Life devicesBehind hundreds of cheap brands. They talk to a cloud by default, but the local protocol is known and many chips take open firmware.2 ideas · 60 projects
- Yours3D printersBambu Lab 3D printersBambu Lab ships an official, cloud-free Developer Mode with a documented local protocol, a rare case of a vendor opening the door itself. It disclaims support for what you build on it.3 ideas · 15 projects
- YoursTVsLG webOS TVsThe TV answers on your network for remote control, and Developer Mode lets you install apps LG does not sell. Root depends on your firmware.3 ideas · 17 projects
- YoursE-readersAmazon KindleReads offline and takes your own files over USB. Anything deeper needs a jailbreak, and whether one exists depends on your firmware version.2 ideas · 10 projects
- YoursVR and AR headsetsMeta QuestMeta's own Developer Mode switch, free to turn on in the companion app, unlocks installing your own apps over USB. It does not unlock the headset's own system, only room for what you add to it.4 ideas · 3 projects
- YoursLightsGovee lightsGovee built a real local API into many of its lights: flip one switch in the app and commands stay on your network. Older BLE-only bulbs skip the app layer entirely through a reverse-engineered Bluetooth client.3 ideas · 22 projects
- YoursLightsPhilips HueOpen by design where it counts: the bridge has an official local API, and the bulbs speak standard Zigbee.2 ideas · 19 projects
- YoursE-readersreMarkable paper tabletsreMarkable prints its own root password in the tablet's settings menu: SSH access is an official, supported feature, even if what you do with it is community-built.3 ideas · 52 projects
- YoursAppliancesXiaomi Mi Home and Aqara devicesMost plugs, fans and purifiers give up a local token after one cloud login, then run entirely on your network. Aqara's gateway hides a root shell the community can reach, though it does not survive a reboot.3 ideas · 48 projects
- YoursCamerasWyze CamBuilt to stream through Wyze's own servers. A reverse-engineered bridge gets the video local on most models, and one older model takes a full firmware swap.3 ideas · 15 projects
- YoursRobot vacuumsEcovacs Deebot vacuumsEcovacs locks the Deebot's brain to its own cloud, but a community client logs in as you and lets the automation happen on your side. Nothing here answers purely on your own network unless you also run Bumper, a stand-in for Ecovacs's own servers.3 ideas · 16 projects
- YoursWearablesMi Band and Amazfit bandsA cloudless Android app replaces Mi Fit and Zepp entirely: pairing stays on Bluetooth, and nothing you track leaves your phone.2 ideas · 18 projects
- YoursLightsIKEA Tradfri and DirigeraIKEA never published a local API for either hub, but the community reversed both, and the bulbs are plain Zigbee underneath, so you can skip the hub entirely.3 ideas · 12 projects
- YoursRobot vacuumsiRobot RoombaRoomba speaks a plain local MQTT protocol under the app. One cloud login pulls out your own robot's password, and from then on it cleans, docks and answers without the cloud.3 ideas · 9 projects
- YoursSpeakersSonos speakersSonos never published a local API, but its speakers answer to plain UPnP on your network, and a mature Python library speaks it fluently.3 ideas · 8 projects
- YoursAppliancesBosch and Siemens Home Connect appliancesHome Connect appliances normally report every cycle through BSH's own cloud. A community tool borrows your one-time login to pull a local token, then talks to the oven or washer directly over the network from then on.3 ideas · 6 projects
- YoursCompanion robotsAnki VectorAnki shut down in 2019, and Digital Dream Labs, who took Vector over, let its own servers fade after that. wire-pod, a free community server, is the reason a Vector bought years ago still answers to 'Hey Vector' today.3 ideas · 2 projects
- YoursAppliancesDyson purifiers and fansEvery Pure Cool model speaks a local MQTT protocol once you have its own Wi-Fi key: no soldering, no firmware change, just one key to pull and a free choice of client.3 ideas · 9 projects
- YoursTVsSamsung Tizen smart TVsEvery set since 2016 ships a WebSocket remote-control API that Samsung never documented for outsiders, but that the community mapped and that needs no account.3 ideas · 2 projects
- YoursTVsChromecast and Chromecast with Google TVCasting itself works out of the box, locally. Google never published the wire protocol for outside developers, but the community mapped it years ago.3 ideas · 1 project
- YoursThermostatsNest Learning Thermostat (1st and 2nd gen)Google ended support for the 1st and 2nd generation Nest Learning Thermostat on October 25, 2025: no more app, no more remote control, no more software updates. The thermostat still heats your house on its existing schedule, but a community library or a replacement firmware is what gives your own code (or your phone) back the reins.3 ideas · 6 projects
- YoursSmart displaysAmazon Echo Show 5Useless without Amazon's cloud out of the box. A young community firmware turns the first two generations into an open Linux screen.2 ideas · 2 projects
- YoursHandheldsNintendo SwitchA hardware bug in the original chip, patched on newer units, lets an unpatched Switch load a custom environment at boot, entirely in memory, with nothing written to the console's own firmware.4 ideas · 27 projects
- YoursDoorbellsRing doorbells and camerasCloud only: every ring, clip and setting goes through Ring's servers. Community libraries reach that cloud with your account; nothing runs locally.1 idea · 7 projects