# Paulus Schoutsen on Reddit (u/balloob)

Part of Founders and CEOs on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/founders-on-reddit/paulus-schoutsen

Paulus Schoutsen: Founder of Home Assistant and Nabu Casa.

- Reddit account: [u/balloob](https://www.reddit.com/user/balloob/) (Personal account)
- How we know it's theirs: ["Founder of Home Assistant" flair from r/homeassistant's moderators](https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/isjdpv/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/homeassistant (26), r/pics (1), r/worldnews (1), r/programming (1), r/homeautomation (1)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2013 to 2026
- Wikipedia: 

## Moments

### u/balloob in r/programming, Nov 4, 2014 · Early days

Replying to a redditor:

> Could you help us understand why this over something like http://www.openhab.org/ ?

> Creator here.
>
> How it compares to openHAB? The projects have similar goals. OpenHAB is more mature, has more functionality and has a community. When I started this project I never intended to challenge openHAB. Home Assistant started out as a simple script to turn on the lights when it got dark. Most commits to Home Assistant have been pushed by me wanting to learn more about Python, Polymer or me acquiring new devices that I wanted to be integrated.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/2l5prr/comment/clt2oqo/ · 4 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/balloob in r/homeassistant, Jan 21, 2024 · Owned it

Replying to the post "Voice assistants: Assist vs Alexa/Google".

> I (the founder of Home Assistant) would say that Assist is not yet ready yet to replace Alexa/Google. There are still a couple of things we need to solve before we hit that bar. Some of which we discussed at the end of the Chapter 5 live stream: https://youtu.be/djEkgoS5dDQ?t=4232
>
> It is our aim that by the end of 2024 it will be a no-brainer to pick Assist. You can pick up an [ESP32-S3-Box-3](https://amzn.to/3u9HIUW) (if you find them in stock…) to follow along for the ride of constant improvements.
>
> There are some really exciting updates coming next month which will bring us a big leap forward (both Home Assistant and ESPHome release).
>
> The year 2023 was our Year of the Voice and we build the foundation to create the best privacy-respecting voice assistant. Now we're building and iterating to polish it up 👍
>
> And to be perfectly clear: Assist is usable today and in many use cases it is great, if not better. However, to replace Alexa/Google, it needs to meet the expectations that every family member has from interacting with Google/Alexa devices (reliable voice pickup with background music, features like timers) and we're not there yet. However, as the 2nd most active open source project in the world, it's not a question of "if" but a question of "when"! 😁

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/19c2e7u/voice_assistants_assist_vs_alexagoogle/kiw781h/ · 485 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/balloob in r/homeassistant, Nov 15, 2024 · Early days

Replying to a redditor:

> Development of HA began in the Netherlands and still has a strong community of users based there

> Small correction. I am Dutch, but I started Home Assistant while living in San Diego, California :-)

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1grx7kz/why_is_everyone_german/lx9y77d/ · 157 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/balloob in r/homeautomation, May 11, 2021 · The why

Replying to the post "eWeLink official Home Assistant add-on released.".

> Founder of Home Assistant here.
>
> This add-on is a big hack and I would not recommend using it.
>
> Home Assistant does not have an API to provide entities in Home Assistant. We don't have this because we don't want vendors to implement a proprietary Home Assistant API.
>
> Our goal is an open home without vendor lock-in, we don't want to be part of this problem. We want vendors to create an open API that can be added to Home Assistant and other home automation projects alike.
>
> Some internals of Home Assistant are accessible via the API and are being misused by this add-on. It will not be a good experience.
>
> /u/ewelinkapp, please reach out to me and let's set up a call and I can help give some pointers on where to start building an official integration.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/comments/n9vbed/ewelink_official_home_assistant_addon_released/gxqumny/ · 98 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/balloob in r/homeassistant, Feb 23, 2024 · The why

Replying to the post "People talk a lot about "wife approval factor" but legitimately, how can we make smarthomes more accessible and what can we do to give our significant others more control?".

> With Home Assistant we use the term Home Approval Factor. It captures everyone in the house including spouse, kids, visitors, pets, etc. I wrote about it in the official newsletter: https://building.open-home.io/open-home-approval-factor/#home-approval-factor

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1axynwo/people_talk_a_lot_about_wife_approval_factor_but/krrag4x/ · 106 points as of Nov 7, 2026