Home Control Assistant :: HCA Flavor Comparison

HCA Flavor Comparison

Home Control Assistant offer three different flavors, each one has different capabilities. Depending upon your needs today and your anticipated needs tomorrow, select the flavor that makes the most sense to you

Click on any feature below to view additional details.

Feature	Limited	Standard	Plus
New User Pricing If you have previously purchased HCA then check out the Purchase HCA page which contains more information on the discounted upgrade options.	Free, See Below	$80.00	$160.00
Existing User Pricing The prices shown are only for new users to HCA. Visit the Purchase HCA to buy your copy now. If you have previously purchased HCA then check out the Purchase HCA page which contains more information on the discounted upgrade options.	Free, See Below	Varies	Varies
Client Server HCA Plus includes a server application that loads and executes your design. Connect to that server from any location on the network with one or more simultaneous clients. The client-server and clients chapters within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Amazon Alexa HCA Plus when running the HCA Server supports voice control of devices, programs, and groups, with Amazon Alexa. Amazon Alexa is contains in the Amazon Echo and other products.			X
HCA for Android A native Android application can be used with the HCA Server that comes with HCA Plus. The client-server and clients chapters within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
HCA for iPhone and iPad A native iOS application can be used with the HCA Server that comes with HCA Plus. The client server and clients chapters within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Control Interface HCA Plus includes an alternative interface designed for control of an existing design. While optimized for touch screens it also works well with any screen and a mouse. The Control User Interface chapter within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Supported Automation Interfaces
Insteon Insteon devices, controllers, and the Insteon power line interfaces 2413 are supported. The Insteon Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X
Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) devices, controllers, and UPB powerline interfaces are supported. The UPB Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Global Cache GC-100 HCA supports up to four Global Cache GC-100s in simultaneous use. The IR Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X
Bitwise BC4 HCA supports up to four BC4s in simultaneous use. The IR Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X
Wireless Interfaces The W800RF32 can be selected as a hardware interface. The wireless Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X
CM11 and CM15 The CM11 and CM15 can be selected in the hardware setup and used as the X10 interface. The CM11 and CM15 Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. The CM15 requires use of a different device driver than from the X10 corporation. Please review the CM15 technical note on the documentation page for installation instructions.	X	X	X
SmartHome USB and serial PowerLinc Controller The SmartHome X10 PowerLinc Controller serial or USB version can be used as the X10 interface and for download. The Legacy X10 PowerLinc Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. NOTE: This is a legacy feature.	X	X	X
Marrick Interfaces All of the X10 interfaces from Marrick Ltd. are supported including the LynX-10PLC. The legacy Marrick Interfaces Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. NOTE: This is a legacy feature.	X	X	X
Magic Module Elk Product's Magic Module and all the other family of products can be used with HCA. The legacy Magic Module appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. NOTE: This is a legacy feature.			X
Lightolier Compose Protocol HCA can communicate with Lightolier Controls Keypads and switches using the Compose Protocol. The legacy Lightolier appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. NOTE: This is a legacy feature.			X
Lightolier Firewall download HCA can assemble and download HCA schedules to the Lightolier Compose PLC Firewall. The legacy Lightolier appendix within the Documentation section contains more information. NOTE: This is a legacy feature.			X
Supported Hardware
Insteon Devices All Insteon devices from SmartHome, including the thermostat, irrigation controller, motion sensor, and others are supported. More information can be found within the Insteon page.		X	X
UPB Devices All UPB Devices from PulseWorx, Simply Automated, and Web Mountain, and others are supported. More information can be found within the UPB page.			X
ZWave Devices Limited support for zwave devices is available. More information can be found within the ZWave appendix of the User Guide			X
Generic IP and Serial Interfaces The abaility to work with any interface that can be sent commands over a IP or serial connection can be used with HCA. Visual Programmer elements are used to implement the necessary command protocols. More information can be found within the Generic Interfaces appendix of the User Guide			X
Thermostats The wired and wireless SmartHome Insteon, RCS UPB, and RCS X10 thermostats are supported. The Residential Control Systems page and the Thermostats appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Weather Station Weather Stations from Davis Instruments are supported. The Weather Support page and the weather Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Weather Underground weather Data All data available from WeatherUnderground including current data from any station, forcasts, and astronomical data can be retreived from the Weather Underground web site.			X
X10 switches, keypads, and modules Older X10 switches, keypads,and modules from a variety of manufacturers are supported. Depending upon the device type there are some legacy feature available to configure programmable features. Information on this can be found in the legacy appendixes in the Documentation section.		X	X
Lightolier Controls CI and CP The Lightolier page and The legacy Lightolier Apendix within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
HCA Core Features
Tiled Displays The ability to display non-overlapping tiles on a display that show a power meter, a graph of power track data, HTML, icons, text, or images. The Displays chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Power Track A method to keep track of power usage from devices over time and analyze that data graphically. The Power Track chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
HCA Designer A easy way to add and configure devices already installed in your home. The Getting Started Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Wizards Multi-step wizards are available to guide you though complex procedures. The Introduction Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Home Modes A "checkbox" method to control devices in your home as it responds over a day. The Home Modes Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Visual Programmer The graphical method for constructing programs is available. The Visual Programs Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Visual Programmer Debugger A debugger for Visual Programs that includes breakpoints, execution path modification, and runtime program modification is available. The Program Debugger Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Email - SMS - MMS The ability to send email, SMS messages, and MMS messages though supporting providers using the Visual Programmer.		X	X
Time Based Schedules Time based scheduling is available. The Schedules Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	Yes, See Below	X	X
Visual Scheduler The graphical method of setting up schedules is available. The Visual Scheduler Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	Yes, See Below	X	X
Visual Scene Editor A tool to create scenes and program them in Insteon devices without manual control. The Visual Scene Editor Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Text Scripts Execution of text based scripts, such as VBScript or JavaScript to augment the features of Visual Programs. The Scripts Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Web Interface HCA can be controlled on the internet by the web interface. The Web Interface page contains more information.			X
Object Interface HCA exposes a rich object model. This enables text based scripts and Windows Programs to control HCA. The Object Model Appendix within the Documentation section contains more information.			X
Advanced Computation Elements The Compute and ComputeTest elements are supported providing rich expressions for computations and testing. The Expressions Chapter within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X
Restart The ability to handle power outages and restore your home to the state it should be at if the power had not failed. The Restart Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Import and Export The Import-Export feature lets you select parts of your design to share with others. Also a way to add new parts to your design created by other HCA users. The Import Export Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Design Checker The background Design Checker continually looks at your design and tries to find problems. What sort of problems? Static problems like a program controlling a non-dim device with a dim element, or dynamic problems, like device status polls not be answered. The Design Tools Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Logging The primary and secondary logs are available for capturing all powerline traffic and program actions. The Design Tools Chapter of the User Guide within the Documentation section contains more information.	X	X	X
Floorplan Backgrounds DXF and Picture files can be used as floor backgrounds on displays. The User Guide Displays Chapter within the Documentation section contains more information.		X	X

Home Control Assistant Limited

Home Control Assistant Limited is supplied free for download. It is intended to help you get started with HCA as quickly as possible. As a free product, there are some restrictions put in place. Most of these are outlined in the above chart, but there are also a few others including:

Only the CM11/CM15, Marrick Interfaces and the X10 PowerLinc Controllers are supported. No UPB, Insteon, or IR interfaces are available.
You can only create up to 4 programs
You can only create 1 schedule with up to 4 schedule entries

Once you experience HCA Limited you will understand why upgrading to HCA Standard, or HCA Plus, is such a smart decision.