WeMo Insight vs TP-LINK HS100

IFTTT (if this then that) allows you to set up conditional automations. So you can turn on or off devices attached to the switch based on conditions like time of day, your location or any trigger from 300+ services.

The installation instructions are fairly basic - just connect to the switch's Wi-Fi, go into the WeMo app, make the connection, and then swap over to your regular Wi-Fi (if it works the first time).

You can set up the Insight to send you app notifications when the switch is turned on or off based on set rules. So you can, for example, get notified only between 9am and 5pm while you are at work, and turn off notifications while you are at home.

The WeMo app is simple to use, and provides quite a bit of information at a glance as well. There's a large power button to open/close the switch, as well as a timer which indicates how long the switch has been on for. It also shows data such as average on time each day, average cost and more.

You can get on demand reports of energy usage as well as set up Insight to email daily, weekly or monthly reports of energy usage.

Scheduling can be done on either a weekly basis (same schedule for the whole week) or you can configure each day individually (e.g., the weekend can have a different schedule than the weekdays).

Through Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa (found on the Amazon Echo ling of products) you can control the switch via voice.

WeMo is one of the leading Internet of Things ecosystems, and can integrate with a wide variety of other products that also support the WeMo standard.

Rules determine when your lights are on and off (think of it like scheduling for events instead of times).

You can configure this switch to turn on and off whenever you choose. Schedules are useful for waking up in the morning and going to bed, and timers help expand that functionality to single-time usage. You can fully automate anything plugged into this switch, even when on vacation half the world away.

You can also enable 'away mode', which turns your lights on and off automatically simulating what it would look like if somebody were home. This deters burgles, as generally they try to break in when nobody is home.

Alexa is Amazon's personal assistant, found in the Echo and Echo Dot. If you have either of these products, you (or your guests) can control this switch with nothing but your voice. Very cool as a party trick, but also useful in day-to-day life.