# Getting Started

Create your account and pick your path — Home Assistant, Home Hub, Smart Satellite, or the API for developers building their own.

Hungry Machines optimizes your home's energy use without you having to think about it, through whichever of the four routes fits your home: your own Home Assistant, a Home Hub, a Smart Satellite, or a client you build on the API. You start the same place either way.

## Step 1 — Create your Hungry Machines account

This step is the same for everyone. Go to **[hungrymachines.io](https://hungrymachines.io)** and sign up. Confirm your email when the verification message arrives. The email and password you set there are what you'll use everywhere — the Home Assistant app, the website dashboard, and any integration you build.

> **Note**
>
> Always sign up through the website. It sets up billing, subscription state, and account onboarding. Signing up programmatically through the API skips those steps, so real accounts should always be created on the website.

## Step 2 — Choose your path
- [Home Assistant](/home-assistant/): Install the Hungry Machines integration in the Home Assistant you run, sign in, add your appliances, and start saving. No code.
- [Home Hub](/home-hub/): A pre-built appliance that runs your HVAC, water heater, EV charger and battery together on one schedule. Beta list.
- [Smart Satellite](/satellite/): A WiFi device that connects with one window AC or mini-split the way its remote does, and schedules it around the cheapest hours. Beta list.
- [Build on the API (developers)](/for-developers/): Build your own dashboard, Home Assistant integration, mobile app, or device client on the Hungry Machines API.
## Which path is right for me?

| You are... | Best path | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Running Home Assistant already | [Home Assistant](/home-assistant/) | Shipping today |
| A homeowner who wants one box that runs every machine in the house | [Home Hub](/home-hub/) | Beta list |
| Someone with one window AC or mini-split to optimize | [Smart Satellite](/satellite/) | Beta list |
| A Home Assistant power user who wants to extend or replace the default UI | [Custom HA integration](/guides/custom-home-assistant/) | Shipping today |
| A developer building a non-HA tool — mobile app, embedded device, custom hub | [Build your own client](/guides/build-your-own-client/) | Shipping today |
| Just curious about the API surface | [API Reference](/api-reference/readings/) | Shipping today |

Every path uses the same account, the same API, and the same optimizer. The only difference is what carries out the plan — and whether that hardware has shipped yet.

## Next steps

- Running Home Assistant: [Install the integration](/home-assistant/)
- Want a Home Hub or Satellite: join the beta list from the [Home Hub](/home-hub/) or [Satellite](/satellite/) page
- Developers: [For Developers](/for-developers/)

## Stay in the loop

[Join our newsletter](https://hungrymachines.io/#newsletter) for energy-saving techniques and product updates — one email at a time, unsubscribe whenever you like.

Canonical page: https://docs.hungrymachines.io/getting-started/