Nuki vs August Home

Nuki’s retrofit design fits European-standard euro-cylinder locks common across most of Europe, the UK and parts of Latin America — installation takes minutes with no drilling, sliding over your existing cylinder. It explicitly does not fit standard US/UK deadbolts without an adapter.

August retrofits US-standard deadbolts (the round cylinder style common across North America), preserving your existing exterior hardware — genuinely valuable for hosts who rent their own property or manage units where landlord permission to swap hardware isn’t an option. Neither lock works on the other’s target market without workarounds, so this decision is largely made by your geography and door hardware before any feature comparison matters.

Nuki’s Smart Hosting service (€69/year per lock, with a 30-day free trial) auto-syncs bookings from Airbnb, Smoobu and Uplisting to generate and expire guest PINs automatically tied to reservation dates — no manual code management once it’s connected. This is a genuinely STR-native feature, not a generic smart-home add-on.

August’s Airbnb integration auto-generates time-restricted guest codes tied to reservation dates as well, which covers the core use case — but it stops at Airbnb. Managing codes across Vrbo, Booking.com or a PMS means manual work, since August has no broader PMS integration story. If you’re Airbnb-only, the gap narrows; if you distribute across channels or run a PMS, Nuki’s automation reach is the clear win.

August Home builds WiFi directly into its Wi-Fi Smart Lock — no separate hub, bridge or subscription needed for remote access and activity logs. It’s simpler to set up if remote access is your main requirement.

Nuki’s base models (Smart Lock Go) use Bluetooth, which works reliably at the door but needs the separate Nuki Bridge (€49, legacy models) for full remote access and PMS sync — though the newer Smart Lock Pro 4th Gen resolves this with built-in WiFi and Thread/Matter support, eliminating the Bridge requirement. If you’re buying new, the Pro model closes this gap; on the entry-level Go model, August’s built-in WiFi is the more convenient stock experience.

Nuki supports app unlock, keypad PINs, NFC key fobs, Apple Watch, Alexa voice, fingerprint entry (via the optional Keypad 2), and Auto Unlock geofencing that unlocks automatically as you approach — the widest range of methods in this comparison. Its Door Sensor add-on (€49) can confirm the door is actually closed.

August covers app, its Smart Keypad ($79, sold separately), and voice assistants (Alexa, Google, Apple HomeKit), plus DoorSense technology that confirms the door is closed and locked — solid, but with fewer total entry methods than Nuki once you factor in its optional add-ons. Note that on August, guest code generation specifically requires purchasing the separate Smart Keypad — the lock alone can’t generate codes.

Nuki’s Smart Lock Go bundles hardware (€120–149) with the first year of Smart Hosting; after that it’s €69/year per lock for the automation. Across a 5-property portfolio, that’s roughly €345/year in ongoing subscription cost — real, but it buys genuine automation.

August is a one-time hardware cost with no subscription: $229 for the lock plus $79 for the Smart Keypad (effectively required, since the lock alone can’t generate guest codes) — $308 per door, once. Across 5 properties that’s $1,540 upfront with zero ongoing fees, versus Nuki’s lower upfront cost plus a recurring bill. Long-term, August is cheaper if you don’t value the automation; Nuki’s subscription buys meaningfully more hands-off operation.