I currently have a Vera Z-Wave Controller which controls GE light switches. I am adding Lutron Caseta Switches to my home and want to control everything from one app. It was mentioned that SmartThings can control both - do I need a SmartBridge to control the Lutron devices or can the SmartThings control the Lutron devices natively? Thanks
There are a few options. All of them require a bridge. SmartThings and Home Home assistant can use the regular Caséta Smart Bridge. Hubitat and HomeSeer require Smart Bridge Pro and Home Assistant can use the Pro. The main difference is how the the Z-Wave hubs control the Lutron equipment. Regular Smart Bridge integrations communicate through the cloud. So if your internet goes down so does your integration. Smart Bridge Pro integrations communicate locally, not requiring internet access.
SmartThings is going through a business model transformation. For all but a few standard devices SmartThings requires an active internet connection and SmartThings hosted infrastructure. Many devices drivers were added by individuals, but SmartThings ended up paying a lot of the internet costs. They are now forcing developers to self-host their required internet resources. It's too early to tell what that will do to user adoption.
Hubitat is the new kid on the block. It was formed by former SmartThings users, so there's a lot of similarities to the older SmartThings environment. The key difference is that there is no internet connection required for any device to be controlled (other than devices, like Alexa, that require internet). There are only a couple issues with the platform: 1) they're a small company that has just released a new hub. There are some growing pains. The company is pretty responsive, so this should be a short term issue., 2) any of your Z-Wave devices should be Z-Wave Plus. Non Plus devices don't work well with Hubitat.
Home Assistant is all open source and comes with all the plusses and minuses. You'll have to invest time to get your system set up and programmed.
HomeSeer is the old guy on the block. They've got a good track record. The system does not require internet. They've just released a new version, so there are some growing pains there. It's also the most expensive and requires sometimes paid 3rd party add-ins for device support.