Philips Hue Starter Kit vs Kasa Smart Plugs — Which Should You Buy?
If you want to make your home a little smarter without rewiring anything, the two easiest places to start are smart bulbs and smart plugs. The Philips Hue Starter Kit and Kasa's Wi-Fi smart plugs are two of the most popular ways in, and both are on sale or near their lows right now. They solve slightly different problems, though, and picking the wrong one means paying for features you won't use.
Every price below was read from Amazon's buy box on the morning of October 13, 2026, during our daily price check. The Hue kit dropped $17 since yesterday and now sits 49% under its list price. Prices change often, so check the live price before you buy.
The short answer
Buy the Philips Hue Starter Kit if you care about the light itself: color, dimming, warm-to-cool white and scenes. Buy Kasa smart plugs if you mainly want to switch things on and off on a schedule or by voice, including lamps you already own, fans, space heaters or holiday lights. For most people on a budget, a Kasa 4-pack is the better first step. If lighting mood is the whole point, Hue is worth the extra money at today's price.
Philips Hue Starter Kit (Bridge + 2 White and Color Ambiance A19 Bulbs)
Price when checked (Oct 13, 2026): $72.99, against a $142.99 list price (49% off) and $89.99 yesterday. Sold by Electronics Club (a third-party seller), shipped by Amazon. Rated 4.7/5 from about 700 reviews.
Check price on AmazonThe kit includes a Hue Bridge and two 60W-equivalent A19 bulbs that do warm-to-cool white plus millions of colors. The Bridge is what makes Hue feel polished: it runs automations even when your phone is off, lets you control lights away from home, keeps the bulbs off your Wi-Fi, and adds Matter support so Hue can join Apple Home, Google Home or Alexa setups. Hue's scenes, including a 24-hour natural-light routine, are still the best in the business. At $36.50 per bulb with the Bridge included, this is a strong entry price. The catch is that each extra Hue color bulb costs far more than a smart plug, and the kit only lights two fixtures out of the box.
Kasa Smart Plug HS103P4 (4-Pack)
Price when checked (Oct 13, 2026): $33.91, or about $8.48 per plug. Sold and shipped by Amazon.com. Rated 4.6/5 from about 150,700 reviews.
Check price on AmazonKasa's HS103 plugs turn any outlet into a smart one. Plug in a lamp, fan or coffee maker, add it to the free Kasa app, and you can switch it from your phone, set timers and schedules, or use Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. No hub is needed, the plugs are UL certified and rated for 15 amps, and each one has a physical button on the side. The limits are simple: they need 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, they only switch power on and off (no dimming or color), and this model doesn't measure energy use. If you only need two, the Kasa HS103P2 2-pack was $17.99 today.
Govee 32.8ft RGBIC LED Strip Lights
Price when checked (Oct 13, 2026): $26.99. Sold by Govee US. Rated 4.4/5 from about 26,700 reviews.
Check price on AmazonIf you like the idea of color lighting but $73 feels steep, a Govee RGBIC strip gives you app-controlled color, music sync and preset scenes behind a TV, desk or bed for well under half the price. It's accent lighting, not a replacement for a room's main bulbs, and it uses Govee's own app rather than a hub.
Side-by-side comparison
| Philips Hue Starter Kit | Kasa HS103P4 (4-Pack) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price checked Oct 13 | $72.99 (49% off list) | $33.91 ($8.48 per plug) |
| What you get | Bridge + 2 color bulbs | 4 Wi-Fi plugs |
| Controls | On/off, dimming, white tones, color, scenes | On/off, timers, schedules |
| Hub | Hue Bridge included | None needed (2.4GHz Wi-Fi) |
| Voice | Alexa, Google Assistant; Matter via Bridge | Alexa, Google Assistant |
| Works with | Fixtures that take an A19/E26 bulb | Anything that plugs into an outlet (up to 15A) |
| Rating | 4.7/5 (about 700 reviews) | 4.6/5 (about 150,700 reviews) |
Pros and cons
- Pro: best-in-class color, dimming and scenes
- Pro: Bridge runs automations reliably and adds Matter
- Pro: 49% under list price today
- Con: only two bulbs in the box; extra bulbs are pricey
- Con: today's offer is from a third-party seller
- Con: only works in fixtures that take a standard bulb
- Pro: very cheap per outlet, no hub required
- Pro: works with lamps and appliances you already own
- Pro: huge review base and simple app
- Con: on/off only, no dimming or color
- Con: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only; no energy monitoring on this model
- Con: each plug switches only one device
Which should you buy?
Choose Hue if you want lights that change with the time of day, a bedroom that dims to warm light at night, or color for movie nights. The Bridge also makes Hue the easier system to grow over time, and $72.99 is a good price for the kit.
Choose Kasa if you want the most automation for the least money. Four plugs can put a living room lamp, a bedside lamp, a fan and the holiday lights on schedules for about $34. Renters especially like plugs because nothing gets installed; see our best smart home devices for renters guide for more ideas.
Or do both. Plenty of homes end up with Hue in the rooms where light quality matters and Kasa plugs everywhere else. Both work with Alexa and Google Assistant, so one voice assistant can run them together.
The bottom line
For a first smart home purchase, the Kasa 4-pack is the safe, cheap pick that most people will use every day. If you want great-looking light rather than just remote switching, the Philips Hue Starter Kit at 49% off is the better buy, and it's $17 cheaper than it was yesterday.
Check price on Amazon: Philips Hue Starter Kit · Check price on Amazon: Kasa 4-Pack