It's the first question almost everyone asks, and the honest answer is that a smart home costs anywhere from a few thousand rand for a handful of connected devices to hundreds of thousands for a fully integrated luxury property. What sits between those extremes is what you're actually buying: a bag of apps, or one system that works together.

What drives the cost

Four things move the number more than anything else:

  • Property size and layout. More rooms means more lighting circuits, more sensors, and often an extra hub or two to keep coverage solid.
  • How much you automate. Lighting and a smart lock is one budget. Add security, climate, solar and energy, gates, irrigation and audio, and you're building an ecosystem.
  • Wired vs wireless. Retrofitting wireless devices into an existing home is quicker and cheaper. Hardwired integration, ideal during a build or renovation, costs more upfront but is more reliable and invisible.
  • DIY vs integrated. Self-installed devices are cheapest on paper. A designed, installed and supported system costs more, but it's the difference between six apps that don't talk to each other and one that does.

Rough tiers to plan around

Think in tiers rather than a single figure. An entry setup — smart lighting in key rooms, a smart lock and a couple of cameras — is the most affordable way in. A connected home layers in climate, energy monitoring, full security and app-based control of the whole property. A fully managed estate integrates solar and batteries, backup, multi-zone audio, gates and irrigation into a single platform with ongoing support.

The cheapest system is rarely the one that costs the least. It's the one you don't have to rip out and redo in two years.

The hidden cost of doing it piecemeal

When your electrician installs one brand, your security company another, and your solar installer a third, you don't have a smart home — you have three islands and three support numbers. Every time something breaks, you're the one working out whose problem it is. An integrated approach folds that coordination into one partner and one app, which is where the real long-term value sits.

How Clariom approaches pricing

We start with a consultation, not a quote. We look at your property, how you live in it, and what you actually want technology to do — then we recommend the right systems for your budget and priorities, independent of any single manufacturer. You get a clear picture of what things cost and why before anything is installed.