Lutron was one of the first companies to offer smart home lighting. Besides standard dimmers and switches, Lutron has two wireless collections for smart homes — Caseta Wireless and Maestro Wireless. Products from both collections use Lutron Clear Connect technology to provide comfortable remote control of dimmers and switches. And while the two collections are very similar, there are some major differences between them. We’ve compared the differences of Lutron Caseta vs. Maestro Wireless to help you choose the right one for your home.
Lutron Caseta vs. Maestro — Differences
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Difference #1: Control Options – Both Caseta and Maestro Wireless lights can be controlled with the Pico Wireless Remote Controller. The Pico remote allows you to turn the lights on/off, and dim the lights from anywhere around your home. The remote functions within a range of up to 100ft. In both the Castea and Maestro Wireless collections, one dimmer or switch can have up to 9 Pico remotes connected to it. The Pico remote offers a convenient way to automate your lighting, along with control from the comfort of anywhere in your home. Got in bed and forgot to turn off the lights? Not a problem! Just use the Pico Wireless control to turn the lights off remotely.
But this is where Lutron Caseta Wireless takes it a step further and brings smart home lighting to a brand new level.
You can control Caseta Wireless dimmers not only via the Pico remote, but also from your smartphone. All you need is a Lutron Smart Bridge or Smart Bridge Pro and an Internet connection. The Lutron Caseta Wireless Collection is usually sold in kits that already include the Lutron Smart Bridge. With the Lutron Smart Bridge Pro, you can connect up to 50 devices to it and control them all remotely via Lutron app on your phone. The best thing is that you don’t need to be at home to control your lights — You can use the Lutron app from anywhere you’ve got an Internet connection. You create schedules and control the lights while you’re miles away from your home. With the Lutron app’s Smart Away feature, you can make it look like you’re at home, even when you’re not. The Smart Bridge will randomly turn the lights on and off during the evening when you’re not home as a preventative measure against thieves.
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Difference #2: Control Types – The Caseta Wireless collection offers single-pole (one location), 3-way (2 locations), and wireless multi location (up to 11 locations) control types. Whereas the Maestro Wireless collection offers single-pole (one location), multi-location (up to 10 locations), and wireless multi location (up to 10 locations) control types. It’s a minor difference, but still worth mentioning in case you have multi-location settings.
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Difference #3: Motion Sensors – Both Maestro Wireless and Caseta Wireless dimmers can be paired with the Radio Powr Savr Daylight Sensor, Occupancy Sensor, and Occupancy/Vacancy Sensor. However, keep in mind that Lutron sensors work with Caseta wireless switches and dimmers in standalone applications only. Sensors do not work with Lutron Smart Bridge or Smart Bridge Pro even though they’re part of the Caseta Wireless collection.
So, even though you can still use Lutron sensors with Caseta Wireless dimmers and switches, you won’t have access to them via the Lutron app because they’re not connected to the Lutron Smart Bridge. However, you can use other 3rd party sensors with Caseta Wireless to get better control of your smart home system. As an example: the Lutron Smart Bridge is compatible with ecobee thermostats; so if you have, or are looking to get, an ecobee3 thermostat with room sensors, you can set the ecobee room sensors to trigger the lights of your Caseta Wireless dimmers to turn on/off when you enter or leave a room. Both the ecobee and Lutron Smart Bridge are HomeKit enabled, which makes them incredibly easy to set up.
Maestro Wireless dimmers and switches work only with Lutron sensors and don’t offer 3rd party integrations.
Unfortunately, Maestro Wireless dimmers don’t work with the Lutron Smart Bridge, which makes them limited in control when compared to Caseta Wireless dimmers. Maestro Wireless dimmers and switches can be only controlled by Pico remotes. So, if you’re looking for a better remote control option, the Caseta Wireless Collection is the clear winner. You can control Caseta Wireless products via both the Pico remote and your smartphone from anywhere you are.
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Difference #4: Smart Home Integration – As we mentioned in Difference #1, the Caseta Wireless communicates not only via Pico remote, but also via the Lutron Smart Bridge. And the Lutron Smart Bridge is excellent when it comes to smart home integration: it works with voice controllers like Amazon Echo, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Apple Watch. You can pair your Lutron Caseta installation with Nest Cam, Nest Thermostat, Nest Smoke Detector, and ecobee and Honeywell thermostats. But that’s not all, because Lutron Caseta Wireless also works with smart home hubs like Wink and SmartThings. And with IFTTT, you can create custom recipes for your lights and other smart home products. With IFTTT recipes, you can do things like turn the lights on if there is a smoke alarm warning from the Nest Protect. You can see a full list of devices compatible with the Lutron Smart Bridge Pro here.
Maestro Wireless doesn’t offer smart home integration. When it comes to remote control, it only works with the Pico remote. We wish there was a way to connect Maestro Wireless dimmers and switches to the Lutron Smart Bridge but, unfortunately, Maestro Wireless doesn’t support it. Which means no smart home integration for Maestro Wireless.
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Difference #5: Price – If you compare Caseta vs. Maestro Wireless prices, you’ll find that they cost almost the same. To us, this makes absolutely no sense because it’s obvious that Caseta Wireless offers way more features for smart home lighting solutions. The thing is that while dimmers and the Pico remote prices are almost the same for both collections, you’ll also need to get the Lutron Smart Bridge for your Caseta Wireless setup. The Lutron Smart Bridge comes in two options: standard and pro. Check out our Smart Bridge vs. Smart Bridge Pro article to find the differences between the two bridges. Both bridges are very similar and can handle up to 50 total wireless devices (Caseta Wireless Dimmers/Switches, Pico Remote Controls, and Shades). It’s cheaper to get the Lutron Smart Bridge as part of a starter kit. However, you can also buy it separately.
Lutron Caseta vs. Maestro Wireless — Comparison Chart
| Caseta Wireless | Maestro Wireless | |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting Controls | Pico Wireless Remote Lutron App |
Pico Wireless Remote |
| Switch/Dimmer Control Types |
• Single-pole (one location) • 3-way (2 locations) • Wireless multi location (up to 11 locations) |
• Single-pole (one location) • Multi-location (up to 10 locations) • Wireless multi-location (up to 10 locations) |
| Works with Lutron Smart Bridge |
Yes | No |
| Amazon Alexa | Yes | No |
| Google Assistant | Yes | No |
| Apple HomeKit | Yes | No |
| Nest support | Yes | No |
| Ecobee support | Yes | No |
| Wink Hub | Yes | No |
| SmartThings Hub | Yes | No |
| Logitech Harmony | Yes | No |
| IFTTT | Yes | No |
Lutron Maestro vs. Caseta — Our Thoughts
When choosing between Lutron Caseta and Maestro Wireless, we definitely recommend Lutron Caseta Wireless. It has better control options and smart home integration features. And if you’re starting from scratch in transforming your home into smart home home, Lutron Caseta Wireless is a fantastic start point, as you can easily build a smart home around the Lutron Smart Bridge.
But, if you’re looking for local remote control of the lights and don’t plan on adding smart home products to your home, it’s better to go with Maestro Wireless. It’s a little cheaper when compared to Caseta Wireless and will let you manage your lighting perfectly with the local remote control (within 100ft).
Last update on 2024-04-26 at 06:59 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
What happened to Radio RA? It connects to Maestro.
Could that be made Z-Wave compatible?
Hi Chris!
We’re talking about Maestro Wireless dimmers in this article which are different from Maestro dimmers.
However, to answer your question, the Lutron Radio Ra system uses Clear Connect RF technology. You can try to make Lutron Radio Ra work with Z-Wave devices via a SmartThing hub, though if you’re looking for Z-Wave dimmers you might as well check out the Leviton Z-Wave dimmers instead.
Cheers,
– Iryna
what about now with RadioRa Select? don’t Maestro wireless dimmers now work with the smartbridge that is compatible with the Ra 2 Select?
Hi Raz!
“Maestro wireless dimmers now work with the smartbridge that is compatible with the Ra 2 Select” — Can you please link to the official source of this information?
As far as we know, Maestro Wireless dimmers do not work with the Lutron Smart Bridge and the Lutron Smart Bridge does not work with the RadioRa2 Select.
The RadioRa 2 Select uses RA2 Select Repeater as a main unit. You can check all the RA2 Select system components on this Lutron page.
Also, please refer to this Maestro Wireless Components & Compatibility page for more information.
Cheers,
– Iryna
Two big advantages of the Maestro over the Caseta:
1. The Maestro remembers your brightness setting. Whenever you switch it on with the switch or the remote, it returns to the brightness you chose before.
2. The Maestro switch is much easier to operate in the dark/when half asleep/in a hurry. It has only one button. One tap to turn the lights to the previous brightness setting. Two quick taps to turn to full brightness. Then, one tap to switch it off.
The Caseta has five buttons on the one switch and does NOT remember your previous brightness setting. I own both switches and, if you don’t need smart features, definitely go with the Maestro.
This site is absolutely fabulous!
Because of the smart capabilities of the Caseta, I think it’s a better choice. I have both. The Maestro has better control functions, but to me, the app control of the Caseta is more useful for a more varied set of applications. For example, my house is wired with one switch-controlled front porch lights, one switch-controlled aquarium outlet and one switch-controlled set of soffit outlets (for Christmas lights). The Caseta switch allows me to program the porch lights to come on at dusk and turn off at 11:00 pm (or whatever time I want). It also lets me program the aquarium lights to come on at 7:00 am and turn off at 9:00 pm. For the soffit outlets, I just program them to be on from dusk until 11:00 pm only when I have hung Christmas light. You can’t do any of this with Maestro Wireless. One problem with both is that neither is compatible with RadioRA2, which is the high-end home automation platform. So if you ever convert to RadioRA2, you’ll be dumping all the Caseta switches for Maestro (or RA2 specific) RF switches. If Caseta were compatible with RA2, it would be a perfect light switch.
I have two lighting circuits in my kitchen that are also controlled from the hall. IE: I would have two masters one for each lighting circuit. Is there a means to program the companion switches to match the related master so that I can provided individual control from the hall way.
It looks like you can use Lutron Caseta Wireless master dimmers for each of your kitchen lights and then install Pico Remote Controls as companion switches for each kitchen master dimmer light. You’ll need to use a mounting bracket for each Pico Remote control if you want to use remotes as companion in-wall dimmers/switches.
My issue with Caseta is no outlets. Why not? Their plug lamp dimmer is a joke imo. There are plenty of companies making outlets. Caseta needs to add these ASAP.