What is bad is when the supplying company goes out of business, you are left with junk. Self Hosting is the way.
Also if you buy Kasa TPlink plgus and switches there is a git HS100 repo that has scripts to run to preprogram your switches to use a localhost instead of baked in proprietary IP server, and scripts to associate your switches and plugs to your wifi without an app. github.com/jkbenaim/hs100
With this CLI tool you can also manipulate the plugs and switches direct by IP address rather than via homeassistant server.