I’m looking to add light switches and plugins to my house that run off SmartThings. What is a good brand and model that is fairly cheap. I prefer built-in receptacles.
First we need to ask a couple of questions.
What country are you in? The device selection does vary somewhat.
What model of the smartthings hub are you using? There are a few devices that don’t work with the older models.
What do you mean by “built in plug-ins“? Plug-in is usually refers to a self-contained “pocket socket“ that you can plug into an existing receptacle. Are you talking about replacing the in wall receptacle?
Plug in
in wall Receptacle
Meanwhile, you might want to take a look at the device class features FAQ ( The topic title is a clickable link)
Also, do you know if you have a neutral wire at the light switch boxes?
And what do you mean by “fairly cheap“? What’s your budget per switch?
I purchased these
They work well with ST, Alexa and webcore. They use the Smart Life app. But they do stick out from the outlet and somewhat hinder the adjacent plug.
I also purchased these
Yes, they work with Alexa. They also use the Smart Life app. But I could not get them to show up in ST and therefore could not write webcore code to control them.
Built into the wall.
$10 a switch.
$10/switch would be very cheap. Most of those will be no name Chinese imports without any safety certifications. And when you’re going to wire something into the mains, you really do want safety certifications for fire protection. 
The only option I can think of would be some of the sonoff Wi-Fi devices which go in the wall behind the switch. If you buy those directly from Sonoff they will have “C E” safety certifications. The CE Mark is a self certification, so it’s only as good as your trust in the individual company, but Sonoff seems to be pretty good.
In order to get them to work with smartthings, you will need to flash the firmware. More on that in the following thread and you can talk to people who are using these there:
Remember, though, that if you choose Wi-Fi over Zigbee or Z wave, You will run into a max devices limit much sooner. Many home Wi-Fi routers can only support 30 simultaneous devices, and the ones that can handle more are much more expensive. With Zwave you can have a couple of hundred devices, and with zigbee up into the thousands. So if you’re doing all the switches in the house, you may have to take a hard look at the Wi-Fi router you are using.
2019: Is WiFi the new IOT Standard? (CEpro Article)
Also, check specifications very carefully before choosing a sonoff device for your outlets. In the US, a regular in wall receptacle should be able to handle up to 15 A, but many devices intended just for light switches only go up to 10.
So I’m not saying it’s impossible to do safely, but you are running on a very small budget compared to what most people spend, and you are going to be pretty limited in the possible device choices.
I might be able to do 15 to 20 switch.
Are even be willing to go refurbished or used.
I splurged and spent $24 recently on a Belkin light switch. I have a 2 Belkin but can only get one to hook up to SmartThings the other one is a no-go at the moment.
Very good points. I did not even consider those things in my purchases. I guess I will be re-evaluating my plugs. Thanks for the info.
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