I’ve had the Shelly Plus Plug UK running in my home for nearly three years now, so it’s well overdue a proper review. If you want a smart plug you can actually tinker with, this might be the best one you can buy in the UK. It has a local API, scripting and webhooks on top of all the usual smart plug stuff. It’s not the cheapest option though, and depending on what you need, you could save yourself some money.
Here’s how it’s held up after years of daily use, what I’ve used it for, and who I think should buy one.
Shelly Plus Plug UK Review: The Quick Verdict
After nearly three years, the Shelly Plus Plug UK has been a solid and mostly reliable smart plug with excellent API features for advanced users. At around £23 it costs more than most smart plugs, but you’re paying for features the cheap ones just don’t have.
- Best for: Home Assistant users, tinkerers and anyone who wants a local API or webhooks
- Price: Around £23
- Works with: Alexa, Google Home and Home Assistant (and Apple Home through Home Assistant)
- Skip it if: You just want to switch a lamp on and off, as a cheaper Matter smart plug will do the job
Design
It’s a nice rounded design and, importantly, it’s slim enough to sit next to another plug on a double socket. That sounds like a small thing but plenty of smart plugs block the second socket completely.
On the front there’s an LED ring and on the side there’s a physical button so you can switch it manually. It’s not groundbreaking, but to be fair, nobody is really reinventing smart plug design at this point.
Specs and Features
This is where the Shelly starts to stand out from the crowd.
Connectivity and smart home support
It connects over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and also has Bluetooth 4.2 built in. Out of the box it works with Alexa and Google Home, and it has an integration in Home Assistant. There’s no native Apple Home support, but because it works in Home Assistant you can pass it through to Apple Home, which is exactly what I do.
Power rating and safety
The plug is rated for 13A at up to 230V, so you can use it with higher wattage appliances that some cheaper smart plugs can’t handle. For safety it has over-temperature, over-voltage and over-current protection.
Security
It also has enhanced security support, including MQTTS, WSS and TLS. Not something most people will think about, but if you’re running it on your home network with a local API it’s good to see.
Energy monitoring
Like most smart plugs it tracks power usage, and in the Shelly app the history seems to go back forever. I can still scroll right back to 2023 on mine.
Scripts, local API and webhooks
This is the big one. The Shelly Plus Plug UK supports scripts, has a local API and supports webhooks. In my opinion this is the main reason to buy it over any other smart plug, and it’s the reason I picked one up in the first place. You can talk to it directly on your network without going through the cloud, which opens up a lot of options for automations.
Setting Up the Shelly Plus Plug UK
Setup is pretty easy:
- Plug it in.
- Download the Shelly app and create an account.
- Tap the plus button and the app will walk you through adding the plug and connecting it to your Wi-Fi.
A couple of tips from me. If you’re planning to use the local API, set a static IP address for the plug on your router so it doesn’t move around on you. I’d also recommend configuring the power-off memory in the settings so you know what state the plug will be in after a power cut.
The Shelly App
For simple schedules, or even fairly advanced ones, the Shelly app is fine. It offers the biggest selection of settings I’ve seen for a smart plug. To be honest though, that makes it a bit overwhelming. The trade-off for having an insane amount of control is that the app feels clunky to use, and I’m not a fan of it.
That said, if you want to tie the plug into the rest of your smart home, you’ll probably end up using it somewhere else anyway. I mostly control mine through Home Assistant and Apple Home.
How I’ve Used It Over 3 Years
The best way to show what this plug can do is to explain what I’ve actually used it for.
Use case 1: Turning on my extractor fan when the cooker hood is on
This is why I bought it. I wanted my wall-mounted extractor fan to come on automatically whenever my cooker hood was running. I plugged the cooker hood into the Shelly Plus Plug UK and wired the wall extractor to a Tuya Smart Fused Spur.
Back then I was using Homebridge to get non-Apple devices into Apple Home, and it couldn’t create automations based on power levels. So I wrote a script that polled the Shelly’s local API regularly to check the power draw. If it was above a certain level, the cooker hood was on, so the script turned on the extractor through the Tuya API. If it dropped below that level, the extractor switched off.
It worked well and reliably. When I moved over to Home Assistant, I was able to rebuild the same automation there, since both Tuya and Shelly have integrations. It also meant I could finally get the Shelly into Apple Home. Again, it was reliable.
If you’ve seen my Aqara Smart Plug review you’ll know that this job is now handled by the Aqara Smart Plug, which is Matter compatible. That freed up the Shelly for something else.
Use case 2: Remotely power cycling my video doorbell
I have an Aqara Video Doorbell and very, very occasionally it goes offline or stops picking up events. I’m talking once every few months. The annoying part is that whenever it happens and I need to power cycle it, I’m almost always away from home.
So I put the Shelly Plus Plug UK on the doorbell’s power supply. Now I can cycle the power remotely when I’m away. I’ve also set up a schedule to power cycle it regularly, which avoids the problem altogether. All of this is set up in Home Assistant.
Reliability: Mostly Good, With One Caveat
For the most part, everything has worked reliably. But I did say for the most part.
Over the last year, the plug has gone offline roughly once every couple of months and needed its own power cycle to come back. I’m honestly not sure why. It’s worth knowing about, but it’s also worth saying that it ran perfectly for the first two years.
What I Like and What I Don’t
Pros
- Local API, scripting and webhooks make it brilliant for advanced users
- Rated at 13A, so it handles higher wattage appliances
- Slim enough to fit next to another plug on a double socket
- Works with Alexa, Google Home and Home Assistant
- Energy usage history going back years
- Over-temperature, over-voltage and over-current protection
Cons
- More expensive than most smart plugs at around £23
- The Shelly app is clunky and overwhelming
- No native Apple Home or Matter support
- Mine has dropped offline every couple of months over the past year
- It’s a fairly old product now
Should You Buy the Shelly Plus Plug UK?
This is a slightly funny review to write, because I’d recommend the Shelly Plus Plug UK, but I’d also tell you to think hard about what you actually need.
After nearly three years it’s been a solid, reliable smart plug with some great API features. But it is a fairly old product now. Unless you specifically want the local API and webhook features, or you need a plug rated for higher wattage appliances, I’d look at a cheaper Matter smart plug instead. There are loads of them around for about £10 and they’ll do the basics perfectly well.
If you’re a Home Assistant user who likes building your own automations, though, this is still one of the best smart plugs you can get in the UK.
Shelly Plus Plug UK FAQs
Does the Shelly Plus Plug UK work with Apple Home?
Not natively. I use it in Apple Home by adding it to Home Assistant first and then passing it through to Apple Home. It works with Alexa and Google Home out of the box.
Does the Shelly Plus Plug UK need the cloud?
No. It has a local API, so you can control it and read its power data directly on your home network. You do need the Shelly app and an account for the initial setup.
Does the Shelly Plus Plug UK monitor energy usage?
Yes. It tracks power usage, and the Shelly app keeps the history for a long time. Mine goes all the way back to 2023.
What’s the maximum load for the Shelly Plus Plug UK?
It’s rated for 13A at up to 230V.
Does the Shelly Plus Plug UK use 5GHz Wi-Fi?
No, it only connects to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. It also has Bluetooth 4.2.
Watch the Video Review
If you’d rather see it in action, check out my full video review of the Shelly Plus Plug UK on YouTube. Let me know in the comments how you’re using yours, and I’ve linked the plug along with some of the cheaper Matter smart plugs I’ve used below.
