tado vs Hive
Updated: October 2026
You have narrowed the shortlist to tado and Hive, and the articles you have read already declare a winner. They usually fold three different tado parcels into one logo, then compare that logo with a Hive Mini this comparison does not stock. tado vs Hive, on this page, means the wireless tado X starter, the wired tado X 2nd gen starter, the tado V3+ starter, and the Hive kit with the Nano 3 hub. SONOFF and radiator-only packs stay on the [smart home thermostat comparison](/hub/thermostats/smart-home-thermostat). There is no single score that makes one brand right for every boiler. Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings from 16 October 2026 and did not run a lab test. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have narrowed the shortlist to tado and Hive, and the articles you have read already declare a winner.
You have narrowed the shortlist to tado and Hive, and the articles you have read already declare a winner. They usually fold three different tado parcels into one logo, then compare that logo with a Hive Mini this comparison does not stock. tado vs Hive, on this page, means the wireless tado X starter, the wired tado X 2nd gen starter, the tado V3+ starter, and the Hive kit with the Nano 3 hub. SONOFF and radiator-only packs stay on the smart home thermostat comparison. There is no single score that makes one brand right for every boiler. Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings from 16 October 2026 and did not run a lab test. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | In the box | Hot water | Paid extras | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  tado tado V3+ wireless starter kit | Sensor, receiver, Internet Bridge, UK adapter | Title says programmer with hot water control | Auto-Assist £3.99 a month | 9.0 | about £57.50 | View offer |
 Hive Hive thermostat with Nano 3 hub | Nano 3 hub | Heating only | None printed on this listing | 8.8 | about £164.99 | View offer | |
 tado tado Wireless Smart Thermostat X starter | Wireless Receiver X and room sensor | App listing says yes; a review says Alexa does heating only | AI Assist £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year | 8.8 | about £129.99 | View offer |
On this page
The kits this page is allowed to compare
The Hive row is one product. ASIN B0DCGMD9KX is the Hive thermostat with Nano 3 hub, £164.99, 4.4 from 353 ratings. The listing says heating only. It is not a Hive in the abstract, and it is not a hub-less Mini. The hub is named in the title and in the included components. Reviews also describe a receiver and a thermostat. Power is listed as 230 V, with four AA batteries included. tado is three products that do not substitute for each other. The wireless Smart Thermostat X starter, B0D9QBPV51, is £129.99 with 4.4 from 286 ratings. The Wireless Receiver X and the room sensor are in the box, and the listing says no extra hub is required. It is Wi-Fi and Matter, and it is not compatible with V3+. The wired Smart Thermostat X 2nd gen starter, B0H2MF6S5R, is £156.44 with 4.3 from 684 ratings. Bridge X is included. The title says wired and the included-components line says wireless, so the live contents line matters more than the title. The V3+ wireless starter, B08LP1LS5T, is £57.50 with 4.5 from 307 ratings, and it includes the Internet Bridge, the receiver, and a UK adapter. It will not take X heads later. If you average those three tado prices you get a number nobody charges. Compare the kit you would actually open. The table holds three of the four, because a subpage table stops at three products. The wired X starter stays in the text.
Hot water, OpenTherm, and the hub
Hive in this set is the combi heating kit. The listing says it controls heating only and is not for a conventional boiler that needs separate heating and hot water control. If your combi heats water when the tap opens, that limit is what you want. If a cylinder still needs a programme, this Hive ASIN is the one to leave. OpenTherm is listed for compatible combis, and Hive’s own page keeps that to a single zone. The wireless tado X listing says the bullets can regulate hot water on a suitable boiler. A UK review then says Alexa and Matter control heating only. Use both facts. Matter is a reason to pick this X starter over Hive if you care about that standard. It is not evidence that voice control will heat a cylinder. The combi boiler page records tado’s help that a combi does not need a hot-water schedule. The wired X starter’s programmer line also mentions hot water control, while tado’s description of the wired product is framed as combi heating. Do not tell yourself all tado kits lack hot water, and do not tell yourself all of them schedule a tank. The hub question is simpler. This Hive kit includes the Nano 3 hub. The wireless X starter includes the receiver and says that is enough. The wired X starter includes Bridge X. The V3+ kit includes the Internet Bridge and an Ethernet cable. None of these four is a parcel that leaves you to find the radio part. The add-on that lacks a bridge is a different ASIN and is not in this duel. Pairing is where the reviews sound alike. Hive reviews praise phone and Alexa control once the unit is paired, and some needed a hub or receiver reset first. The wired X starter’s reviews praise in-app wiring diagrams, and some needed more than one factory reset. The V3+ reviews complain about upgrade nags more than about the schedule itself.
What you pay once and what you pay monthly
Shelf price first. The V3+ starter is £57.50. The wireless X starter is £129.99. The wired X starter is £156.44. Hive is £164.99. Hive is the dearest of the four, and it is also the one whose listing does not print a subscription. Do not invent a Hive monthly fee from a third-party table. tado prints the fee. On the wireless X starter and on the wired X 2nd gen starter, AI Assist is £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year. Reviews say geofencing and open-window detection sit in that paid layer. On the V3+ starter, Auto-Assist is £3.99 a month for automatic away and open-window setback. Reviews say the schedule works without it, and that the app keeps asking you to upgrade. A year of that plan is £47.88 if you pay monthly and stay subscribed, which is most of the gap between the V3+ kit and a dearer thermostat. If you will not pay it, judge the tado kits on schedules alone. Third-party articles sometimes turn a brand’s savings percentage into a bill forecast. Those numbers are not used here. They are not on these listings as a result we could check, and they double-count the Energy Saving Trust figure of about £100 a year in Great Britain if you paste both into the same paragraph. That figure is about fitting missing controls, not about a logo. Matter is the other difference. The wireless X starter and the wired X starter list Matter. Hive in this set is Wi-Fi through the Hive app, and a review also uses Alexa. If your reason for leaving a dumb programmer is a voice command to set the heating, both can be described that way after pairing. If your reason is Matter in a smart-home controller, the X starters are the listings that say so.
When to choose which
Choose the Hive kit when the boiler is a combi, you want the Nano 3 hub in the box, and heating-only is the correct limit. Accept £164.99 and a possible pairing reset. Skip Hive when you need to schedule a cylinder, or when you want Matter, or when you are choosing on shelf price alone. In that last case Hive loses to every tado starter here. Choose the wireless tado X starter when you want the current generation, the receiver in the box, and Matter, and you will either pay for AI Assist or live without those automations. Skip it when the house is already on V3+, because X will not join, and skip it when you need the cheapest complete starter. That cheaper complete starter is the V3+, with the condition that you will not buy X heads afterwards. The best smart thermostat UK page uses the same split: wireless X as the top pick, V3+ as the best value. Choose the wired X 2nd gen starter when you are replacing a wired thermostat and you specifically want Bridge X included. Read the contents conflict before you pay £156.44. It has the largest tado review file of the three, at 684 ratings, and it still is not the default over the wireless starter unless the wired backplate is the point. If you already own one brand, stay with it unless a generation break forces the move. V3+ owners do not upgrade by adding X heads. Hive owners do not gain a cylinder channel by buying another Hive room stat from a different listing. If the boiler manual names a brand bus rather than OpenTherm or a relay, neither logo has won.
Common questions
Which is better for a combi that only needs heating?
The Hive kit is the listing that says heating only and includes the Nano 3 hub, at £164.99 with 4.4 from 353 ratings. The wireless tado X starter is the better fit if you want Matter and a lower shelf price and you accept that a review says voice control stops at heating. For a combi, that voice limit often matches the boiler. It does not match a house that still has a cylinder.
Which one schedules hot water?
Hive in this set does not. The listing refuses a conventional boiler that needs separate hot water control. The wireless tado X bullets say hot water can be regulated on a suitable boiler, and a UK review says Alexa and Matter do not do hot water. The V3+ title says programmer with hot water control. The wired X programmer line also mentions hot water, against a tado description that frames the wired unit as combi heating. Read the listing you are buying, then the boiler manual.
Do I have to pay monthly?
Not for Hive, on this listing: no subscription is printed. For the tado X starters, AI Assist is optional at £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year, and reviews place the headline automations behind it. For V3+, Auto-Assist is £3.99 a month, and reviews say schedules run without it. You can refuse the plan. You should expect the app to mention it.
Does Hive include the hub?
Yes. This ASIN’s title and included-components line name the Hive Nano 3 hub. It is not one of the hub-less bundles that other articles mix into the name Hive. You still place a receiver at the boiler controls. Reviews talk about both parts, and about resetting them when the app cannot see the unit.
Can I start on V3+ and add X heads later?
No. tado’s compatibility note says X products are not compatible with V3+ or older. The £57.50 kit is a complete starter only if you stay on V3+. If you want X radiator heads, start with the wireless X starter at £129.99 or the wired X starter at £156.44, both of which are X and both of which reject V3+.
Which one is Matter?
The wireless tado X starter and the wired tado X 2nd gen starter list Wi-Fi or Thread with Matter. The V3+ starter is Wi-Fi through its Internet Bridge, not an X Matter kit. The Hive kit is Wi-Fi with the Hive app. A review uses Alexa with Hive. Matter is a reason to choose an X starter, not a reason to assume voice control of hot water. On the wireless X starter, a review says Alexa and Matter control heating only.
What if I already own one brand?
Stay on that system. Buy the matching generation, not the other logo’s starter, and not the other tado generation. A V3+ bridge will not adopt X heads. An X receiver will not adopt V3+ heads. A Hive heating-only kit will not grow a cylinder channel because you preferred the hub. Add a compatible extra only after the receiver or hub you already own is the one the new part lists.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources for Energy Saving Trust savings, Boiler Plus in England, Part L, and Gas Safe. Listings are the amazon.co.uk captures for these eight ASINs on 16 October 2026. Prices on amazon.co.uk move.
- Energy Saving Trust, thermostats and heating controls (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Energy Saving Trust, take control of your heating (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Boiler Plus circular (2018) (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- SI 2026/335 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Approved Document L (2026) (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Gas Safe Register, home improvements (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Hive shop, thermostat (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- tado compatibility (retrieved 16 October 2026)