Why did myQ block third-party apps and what are the alternatives?

In September 2023, Chamberlain Group shut down public access to the myQ API. This broke Home Assistant integrations, the homebridge-myq plugin, Tasker automations, and other third-party apps. These apps relied on the myQ cloud to read door status and send commands. The shutdown was abrupt. It drew immediate backlash from the smart home community.

Chamberlain's stated reason was to move to a paid commercial API. Hobbyist and open-source users were cut off. Amazon kept working because it has a commercial agreement with Chamberlain. Everyone else lost access.

The result: if you had a LiftMaster or Chamberlain opener and used myQ with Home Assistant, SmartThings, Hubitat, or any similar platform, those integrations stopped working. The myQ app still works. Amazon Key delivery still works. Smart home integrations did not.

Here is what replaced them.

What Chamberlain blocked and why it matters

Before the shutdown, the unofficial myQ API was reverse-engineered by the community. Integrations like homebridge-myq, python-myq, and the Home Assistant myQ component all used it. They read real-time door status and sent open and close commands. They worked well for years. Chamberlain tolerated them.

This was not a technical failure. Chamberlain made a business decision. The new paid commercial API costs $36 per year per customer for third-party vendors to access. Amazon paid. Open-source developers did not.

The Home Assistant community was the hardest hit. At the time of the shutdown, the myQ integration was one of the most-used integrations in Home Assistant, with tens of thousands of active installations. The community-built python-myq library, which powered the integration, had been maintained for years by volunteers. All of that stopped working in September 2023 when Chamberlain rotated its authentication credentials and closed access.

The shutdown also affected other platforms. SmartThings users with myQ devices lost status reporting and automation triggers. Homebridge users running homebridge-myq had to find a workaround. Anyone who had built automations around myQ status webhooks had to rebuild from scratch.

The shutdown pushed many homeowners away from cloud-based smart garage tools. Local integrations became more popular. These run entirely on your home network. They do not depend on the manufacturer's servers. If Chamberlain makes another policy change, local integrations are not affected.

ratgdo: the most popular local replacement

ratgdo stands for "Rage Against the Garage Door Opener." It is an open-source hardware project. You wire a small ESP32 or ESP8266 board to the same terminals as your wall button on a LiftMaster or Chamberlain opener. The device talks to the opener over its data bus. No cloud is required.

What ratgdo restores:

• Real-time open, closed, opening, and closing door state
• Open and close commands from your phone or automation
• Light on and off control
• Lock mode (prevents any remote from activating the door)
• Obstruction sensor status

ratgdo works with Home Assistant via ESPHome or MQTT. Everything runs on your local network. No internet connection is needed for any feature except the initial Wi-Fi setup.

You can buy a prebuilt ratgdo module on Tindie for around $25 to $35. Assembly takes about 30 minutes for someone with basic DIY comfort. You connect three wires from the board to the door control and safety sensor terminals on the opener. Power comes from the opener itself. No separate power supply is needed.

Once wired, you flash the device with ESPHome firmware using a web browser. The device connects to your Wi-Fi and appears in Home Assistant automatically. From there, you get a full garage door entity with open, closed, opening, and closing states. You can build automations like "close if open for more than 20 minutes" or "alert me if the door opens between midnight and 6 AM."

The project is active on GitHub with over 2,000 stars and gets regular updates as of mid-2026.

Compatibility note: ratgdo works with Security+ 2.0 openers, which have a yellow learn button. It does not work with Security+ 3.0 openers (white learn button) released in 2025. Those use Bluetooth instead of a wired data bus. A version of ratgdo for Security+ 3.0 was in development but was not released as of mid-2026.

Konnected blaQ: plug-and-play ratgdo alternative

Konnected blaQ is a commercial product that does what ratgdo does, but it ships fully assembled. You wire it to the same wall button terminals, and it adds local smart home control to your existing opener.

blaQ supports:

• Home Assistant via ESPHome (full local control, no cloud)
• Apple HomeKit (local, built-in HomeKit bridge on the device)
• Google Home (via cloud)
• Amazon Alexa (via cloud)

blaQ costs around $89. Setup takes about 15 minutes. It is a good fit for homeowners who want ratgdo-level functionality without any soldering or DIY assembly. Konnected is a US company with phone and chat support.

blaQ also works with Security+ 2.0 openers. Konnected sells a version for Genie Intellicode openers as well.

SwitchBot Hub 2 with garage door accessory

SwitchBot takes a different approach. Instead of wiring into the opener's data bus, the SwitchBot Garage Control accessory connects to the wall button terminals and uses the SwitchBot Hub 2 as the bridge.

SwitchBot connects to:

• Google Home
• Amazon Alexa
• Apple HomeKit (via the Hub 2)
• Home Assistant (via the SwitchBot integration, with fewer features than ratgdo or blaQ)

The Hub 2 and garage door accessory together cost around $60 to $70. Setup is simple. This is a good choice if you want broad smart home support across Google, Apple, and Amazon without needing deep local control. It is not the right choice if local-first Home Assistant is your goal.

Comparison and what to do if you have a Security+ 3.0 opener

Here is how the alternatives compare for a Security+ 2.0 (yellow button) opener:

Option	Price	Local control	Home Assistant	HomeKit	Setup level
ratgdo (DIY)	$25-$35	Full	Yes (ESPHome/MQTT)	Via HA bridge	Intermediate
Konnected blaQ	$89	Full	Yes (ESPHome)	Yes (native)	Easy
SwitchBot Hub 2 + accessory	$60-$70	Partial	Limited	Yes (Hub 2)	Easy
myQ app (official only)	Free	None	Not supported	Not supported	None

For full local control and the best Home Assistant experience, ratgdo or blaQ are the right choice. For ease of setup and cloud-based voice control through Google or Alexa, SwitchBot works well.

If you have a Security+ 3.0 opener (white learn button, 2025 or newer), ratgdo and blaQ do not currently support it. Your options are more limited. The myQ app still works for manual phone control. Amazon Key delivery still works. For Google Home and Alexa, Chamberlain has official integrations that work through the myQ cloud. For Apple HomeKit, there is no direct solution yet.

The open-source community is actively working on Security+ 3.0 support. Check the ratgdo GitHub page and the Konnected blaQ forum for current status before buying any hardware. The situation may change.

If local smart home control is important to you, the most reliable current option is a yellow-button Security+ 2.0 opener with ratgdo or blaQ.

G Brothers serves Denver and the Front Range with garage door opener service, installation, and smart home advice. If you want to know which smart home option is best for your opener model, call us for a free estimate. Same-day service is available throughout the metro area.