Google Home under fire as users report unresponsive devices, discontinuation fears and Nest Aware’s 25% price hike

Google’s smart home ecosystem is facing mounting criticism from frustrated users who are dealing with increasingly unresponsive devices while simultaneously being hit with a significant price increase for the company’s Nest Aware subscription service.

The tech giant informed customers yesterday via email that Nest Aware subscriptions will see a 25% price bump starting August 15, 2025. The basic plan jumps from $8 to $10 monthly, while the Plus tier increases from $15 to $20 per month. Annual subscribers aren’t spared either, with costs rising from $80 to $100 for the standard plan and $150 to $200 for Plus.

This price hike comes at a particularly frustrating time for Google Home users who have been reporting widespread issues with device responsiveness and functionality. Reddit communities dedicated to Google Home have been flooded with complaints about devices failing to respond to voice commands, smart home automations breaking down, and general declining performance.

Some users are also questioning whether Google is quietly phasing out its smart home products, especially after the company recently discontinued the Nest Protect smoke detector and Nest x Yale Lock earlier this year. These discontinuations have left many wondering if their current devices will continue receiving support and updates.

Adding fuel to the fire, frustrated customers are now canceling their Nest Aware subscriptions in response to the price increase. The subscription service, which provides cloud storage for security camera footage and advanced features, has become a hard sell when users are already dealing with unreliable hardware.

Google defended the price increase by citing market shifts and inflation, but many users feel the company is prioritizing profit over fixing existing problems. The situation has created a perfect storm where customers are paying more for services while their devices become less reliable.

The company recently rolled out its Spring 2025 update promising improvements to the Google Home experience, but user feedback suggests these updates haven’t addressed the core responsiveness issues plaguing the platform. As Google continues to hint at new home devices in development, current customers are left wondering whether their investment in the ecosystem will pay off or if they should jump ship to competitors like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s HomeKit.

For now, Google Home users face a difficult choice: pay more for an increasingly unreliable service or abandon the ecosystem entirely.