Which presence sensor for Home Assistant?
"Lights that don't turn off on you" is the automation everyone actually wants, and mmWave radar is how you get it — it sees you sitting still, which PIR can't. The real decision isn't which radar chip; it's how much assembly you want to do. There are three honest lanes, and the same Hi-Link radar silicon sits inside most of them.
The three lanes
| Lane | Cost | You get | You provide |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY module + ESP32 LD2410 / 2412 / 2450 | ~$8–15 total | Exactly the sensor you want, native ESPHome, per-gate tuning | Wiring 4 pins, a case, an evening of tuning |
| Assembled ESPHome product Apollo MSR-2 ~$33 · Everything Presence Lite ~$39 / One ~$65 | $33–65 | Cased multisensor (radar + PIR + lux + temp), pre-flashed ESPHome, community support | Nothing — plug into USB and adopt |
| Retail Zigbee/Wi-Fi Aqara FP2 ~$85 (FP300 emerging) | $50–85 | Polished app setup, FP2: 30 zones + multi-person over Wi-Fi | Money, and acceptance of vendor firmware |
Same physics throughout — the Apollo and Everything Presence devices are literally built around the Hi-Link modules below. You're choosing labour vs money, not capability tiers.
DIY picks, by situation
- Normal room, first build: HLK-LD2410 (~$4) — the community default, native ESPHome component, endless working configs.
- Zones ("is someone at the desk vs on the sofa"): LD2450 — tracks up to three targets with X/Y position. Pair it with a 2410/2412 because it's weak at motionless bodies.
- Big room or very still people: LD2412 (~$6) — the 2410's longer-range, better-at-stationary successor; the static half of the dual-radar recipe used by 2026's best builds.
- Garage / garden / long corridor: DFRobot C4001 (~$13, 25 m) — stable at ranges the Hi-Link parts can't reach.
- Instant lights-on: add an AM312 or HC-SR501 PIR — radar confirms presence, PIR wins the reaction-time race. The classic combo: PIR turns lights on, mmWave keeps them on.
- Ten rooms on a budget: LD2420 (~$2.50) — accept the firmware-batch lottery, save the difference.
All the Hi-Link modules above are SKUs of one official-store listing:
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If you'd rather buy it done
Apollo MSR-2 (~$33) and Everything Presence Lite (~$39, or the One at ~$65 with more sensors) are the community's favourite Made-for-ESPHome devices: an LD2410-class radar plus PIR, light and temperature in a printed case, pre-flashed, adopted into Home Assistant in minutes and updated like any other ESPHome node. They're what the DIY build becomes after the third time you make one — and priced at roughly the value of your soldering evening.
Aqara FP2 (~$85, Wi-Fi) remains the retail benchmark: 30 zones, genuine multi-person tracking, slick app calibration, works locally with HA. You trade away firmware control and pay the polish premium. (The newer FP300 battery multi-sensor is emerging as the 2026 roundup darling; early days.)
Avoid tier: the flood of $15–25 Tuya/Moes Zigbee "presence" pucks — community testing keeps finding false-trigger machines that also chatter on the Zigbee network. SmartHomeScene maintains an explicit avoid-list; if the brand is anonymous and the price looks too good, it's on it.
The tuning reality (read before buying anything)
Every mmWave sensor — $4 module or $85 retail — ships needing the same conversation with your room. Radar sees fans, HVAC vents, swaying curtains, monitors playing video, and the cat. The fix is placement plus tuning: aim it away from permanent movers, cut the max range at the room boundary (it sees through thin walls), and drop the sensitivity of the specific distance gates that contain a fan. Budget one evening per room and you'll wonder how you lived with PIR; skip the tuning and you'll conclude mmWave is junk. It isn't — it's just honest about how much your room moves.
Confused by the Hi-Link model soup? The LD24xx decoder compares every variant. All specs: the sensor table.