Smart Locks
Tedee
Retrofit smart locks with PMS sync for EU short-term rentals
Solid Option
Solid EU retrofit smart lock with real PMS integrations, but accessory pricing is opaque
Contact sales • No free trial
Comparison
Tedee vs Aqara
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Smart Locks
Aqara
Smart-home hardware with guest-friendly locks for short-term rentals
Best for Small Hosts
Affordable, ecosystem-friendly smart locks for hands-on small-portfolio hosts
From $169.99 • No free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which Should You Pick: Tedee or Aqara?
Pick Tedee if you operate EU short-term rentals on euro-profile cylinders and want native Guesty, Hostify, or Smoobu PMS sync for per-reservation code automation. Pick Aqara if you run 1–10 doors already inside Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, or Home Assistant and want verified USD pricing with biometric entry on the U100.
Editorial perspective from the Tedee side; factual claims about Aqara are drawn from its review.
Pricing Side-by-Side
Tedee
Full pricing →Contact sales • No free trial
Contact sales
Hardware purchase model, not a subscription. Tedee GO listed at €129.00 VAT-included on the vendor product schema (2026-04-24). No consolidated pricing page exists at tedee.com/pricing. Tedee PRO, keypad, bridge, and cylinder accessory prices are sold as separate SKUs and are UNVERIFIED from direct vendor product-page fetches. USD pricing for US customers is UNVERIFIED on the vendor site.
Try TedeeAqara
Full pricing →From $169.99 • No free trial
What each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Tedee does well
Broad smart-home ecosystem support including Matter
Tedee supports Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Home Assistant, Fibaro, and Matter — wider than typical STR-only locks, per the vendor's compatibility page (2026-04-24).
Native Guesty and Hostify PMS integration for automated guest codes
Operators can auto-generate per-reservation access codes tied to booking windows without manual key handoff — Hostify's integration page confirms guest data syncs directly to Tedee locks (2026-04-24).
Retrofit cylinder install with no door drilling
Tedee GO and PRO mount on existing euro-profile cylinders, allowing reversible installation — a real advantage for leased STR properties where structural changes aren't permitted.
What Aqara does well
Strong cross-ecosystem compatibility via Matter, Thread, and Zigbee
Aqara hubs and locks plug into all four major US smart-home ecosystems plus Home Assistant. The Amazon listing for the Hub M3 lists support for Apple HomeKit, Alexa, SmartThings, Home Assistant, and IFTTT.
One-time hardware cost, no subscription required
Unlike RemoteLock or igloohome's cloud tiers, Aqara devices work locally through a hub with no mandatory monthly cloud fee for owner use, which compounds well over years of ownership.
Purpose-built guest-access features in lock firmware
Aqara locks support one-time and time-bound passcodes plus up to 50 fingerprints managed remotely from the Aqara Home app, fitting short-stay turnover without a PMS round-trip.
Where Tedee falls short
No consolidated vendor pricing page; accessory-dependent total cost is opaque
Keypad, bridge, and cylinder pricing are sold as separate SKUs; assembling a STR-ready kit cost requires hunting across multiple product pages, since tedee.com/pricing returned no tier list (2026-04-24).
EU-centric distribution and euro-profile cylinder dependency
The vendor's product schema returns EUR pricing and US/USD retail pricing on the vendor site is unverified — North American operators with ANSI deadbolts will need a different lock.
Full STR use requires the separately-purchased keypad accessory
Without a keypad, guests need the Tedee mobile app to unlock, which is inconvenient for one-night stays and non-tech-savvy guests, per Tedee's own STR guidance (2026-04-24).
Where Aqara falls short
No native PMS integration
Aqara has no documented native integration with Hostaway, Guesty, Lodgify, OwnerRez, or Hospitable. Hosts must rotate codes manually, use Apple/Google automations, or layer third-party lock middleware.
Hub-dependent for full functionality
Budget for the required hub and check compatibility for each device. The Hub M3 product page lists a one-time price of $159.99.
Mixed user reviews vs. competitors
On consumer aggregator Knoji on 2026-04-25, Aqara scored 3.9/5 versus Eufy's 4.7/5. Operators should weigh that gap against Aqara's lower price point.
Which Should You Pick
Pick Tedee if
EU-based short-term rental operators with existing euro-profile cylinders who want a quiet, small retrofit smart lock with Guesty, Hostify, or Smoobu PMS sync.
Skip Tedee if
You operate in North America with standard ANSI deadbolts — Tedee retrofits euro-profile cylinders and US distribution and USD pricing is unverified on the vendor site.
Pick Aqara if
Hands-on hosts of 1–10 doors who already run an Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, or SmartThings ecosystem and want affordable Matter/Zigbee locks that issue one-time guest codes.
Skip Aqara if
You manage 30+ doors and need turnkey, audit-logged, PMS-synced lock automation — look at RemoteLock or August/Yale paired with Operto instead.
Where Tedee and Aqara actually differ
- Tedee natively integrates with Guesty, Hostify, and Smoobu for per-reservation code automation; aqara has no documented native PMS or Airbnb integration as of 2026-04-25 — code rotation runs through Aqara Home or smart-home routines.
- Aqara’s listed US lock prices are $169.99 for U200, $189.99 for U100 and $269.99 for U400, each a one-time purchase. A separate Hub M3 costs $159.99.
- Tedee retrofits onto existing euro-profile cylinders without drilling — useful for leased EU properties; aqara locks are full deadbolt replacements designed for US/Europe doors and don't address euro-profile cylinder retrofits.
- Aqara's U100 ships with an integrated biometric keypad supporting up to 50 fingerprint slots at $189.99; tedee has no fingerprint support and requires a separately-purchased keypad accessory for guest PIN entry.
- Both support Matter, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Alexa, and Home Assistant; aqara adds SmartThings and IFTTT, while tedee adds Fibaro and ships native Guesty/Hostify/Smoobu PMS hooks aqara lacks.
Common objections
- Aqara has verified USD pricing and a biometric keypad on the U100 — why pick tedee's opaque, accessory-dependent kit?
- For North American hosts shopping on transparent USD MSRPs and wanting fingerprint entry, aqara is genuinely the easier pick and tedee isn't well-positioned — EU distribution and euro-profile cylinders are the wrong fit. Tedee's value is specifically for EU operators on euro-profile cylinders whose PMS is Guesty, Hostify, or Smoobu, where aqara offers no native code automation.
- Which billing limits and extra charges should I check for Aqara?
- Aqara’s listed US lock prices are $169.99 for U200, $189.99 for U100 and $269.99 for U400, each a one-time purchase. A separate Hub M3 costs $159.99.
- Aqara's U200 plus Hub M3 lands around $300 per property with no subscription — isn't tedee's accessory-dependent kit more expensive?
- Possibly, and that's a fair concern given tedee's pricing opacity. Tedee GO is €129 VAT-included, but full STR-ready kit cost (lock plus keypad plus bridge) isn't consolidated anywhere on the vendor site, so direct comparison is hard. For single-lock single-property deployments where you want transparent upfront cost, aqara is easier to evaluate. Tedee's economics improve when the PMS automation eliminates per-reservation manual code work that aqara would push back onto the host.
Keep Digging
Tedee
Solid EU retrofit smart lock with real PMS integrations, but accessory pricing is opaque
Aqara
Affordable, ecosystem-friendly smart locks for hands-on small-portfolio hosts