Starter Kit

Smart Home Starter Kit Under $100

For under $100, an Echo Dot, two Wyze plugs, two Wyze color bulbs, and a Wyze Cam v4 build a complete, renter-friendly smart home that sets up in about 30 minutes.

Updated May 2026 • 4 picks compared

★ Best Overall · Voice Hub

Amazon

Echo Dot (5th gen)

The brain of the kit — voice control that ties everything together.

The Echo Dot is the brain of the kit. It listens for "Alexa" and routes commands to your smart plugs, bulbs, and camera, and doubles as a decent little speaker.

~$22 on sale (regular $50)
Decent built-in speaker for music, podcasts, and timers
Tap surface for snooze, play, and pause
Plugs into any wall outlet with the included USB cable

No screen, so camera live view only narrates — you'd need an Echo Show to actually see it
The $22 price only shows up on sale; it's $50 the rest of the time

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Best for Automation

Wyze

Plug (2-pack)

Automate two lamps or appliances with schedules and voice.

Two smart plugs let you automate two existing things in your apartment — a lamp, a fan, a coffee maker. Energy monitoring even shows what each device costs to run.

~$14 for two plugs
Energy monitoring tells you what each device costs to run
Schedules via the Wyze app (lamp on at sunset, off at midnight)
Compact body doesn't block the adjacent outlet

Locks you into the Wyze app and ecosystem for these accessories
Needs the Wyze skill enabled in Alexa before voice control works

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Best for Color Lighting

Wyze

Bulb Color (2-pack)

16 million colors, dimming, and a sunrise alarm in a standard bulb.

Two color smart bulbs replace standard bulbs in two lamps with dimmable, color-changing equivalents — plus a sunrise alarm that gradually brightens to wake you.

~$26 for two bulbs
16 million colors plus tunable white
Dimmable by app or voice ("dim the living room lamp to 30%")
Sunrise alarm gradually brightens to wake you up

Wyze ecosystem only — no native HomeKit support
Runs through the same Wyze app, so you're committed to that platform

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Best for Indoor Security

Wyze

Cam v4

A 2.5K indoor camera with color night vision and two-way audio.

One indoor camera covers the most-trafficked area of your apartment — usually the living room or entryway — with 2.5K video, color night vision, and motion alerts to your phone.

~$36 for a 2.5K HD camera
Color night vision
Two-way audio to talk to whoever (or whatever) is in the room
Motion alerts sent straight to your phone

Not a replacement for a real security system in a high-risk area
microSD card for local recording is sold separately (~$10 for 32GB)

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Compare all 4

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Product	Best for	Role	Setup	Price ($–$$$$)
Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen)	Voice control	Voice hub	~3 min	$$	Check price →
Wyze Plug (2-pack)	Automating lamps	Automation	3-5 min	$	Check price →
Wyze Bulb Color (2-pack)	Color lighting	Lighting	2-3 min	$$	Check price →
Wyze Cam v4	Indoor security	Security	3-5 min	$$$	Check price →

How to choose

Before you buy

01 · Set a hard budget

Keep the whole kit under $100 so you can test smart home before going deeper. That's enough for voice control, automated lighting, and one camera — the budget for a student, new renter, or curious first-timer.

02 · Make everything talk to each other

Stick to one accessory brand so your plugs, bulbs, and camera share a single app. Here that's Wyze, with an Echo Dot tying them all together for voice control.

03 · Keep it renter-friendly

Choose gear that plugs in — no drilling, wiring, or permanent installs. Everything sets up in minutes and comes off cleanly so you can take it with you when you move out.

04 · Know the ecosystem trade-off

Cheap Wyze accessories lock you into the Wyze app. If you later want HomeKit-native gear you'd have to replace them — but for most beginners the cost savings are worth the lock-in.