IKEA's super cheap smart bulbs will soon work with all your favorite assistants

IKEA is pushing to make your home smarter -- so it just teamed up with some of the biggest players in the connected home space.

The Swedish home design retailer's TRÅDFRI smart lighting system will soon be compatible with some of the most common smart home hubs on the market: Apple Homekit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa. The company announced the news in a Swedish language press release, which was spotted by Mac Rumors.

The bulbs will work alongside other connected devices in the smart home and answer to the voice commands, according to the release. The TRÅDFRI system will also be far cheaper than other connected lights on the market, making the platform an enticing gateway for homeowners holding off on smart appliances because of their high cost. There's no specific date for the new compatibility, with broad target of "summer and autumn" teased in the announcement.

The Swedish home design retailer first announced its smart lighting system as part of its push to make homes more connected back in March, but at that point it wasn't compatible with any of the major smart home platforms, as users were left controlling the lighting with a dedicated remote control or the TRÅDFRI app.

IKEA's smart lighting package is remarkably cheap compared to similar systems. TRÅDFRI starts with the gateway kit for $79.99 -- but once you've committed, individual bulbs come as cheap as $11.99, with dimmer and motion sensing kits maxing out at $26.99. Getting connected with a Phillips Hue starter pack, meanwhile, starts at $129.99, with most bulbs priced higher than IKEA's offerings.

Smart bulbs don't quite measure up to a pair of custom Yeezys on the coolness scale, but the new compatibility will make the lights much more useful on the path to making connected homes cheaper for everyone.

The furniture maker is committed to making smart home tech a major focus -- we've already seen wireless charging stations popping up in some of its pieces, and a mysterious consumer survey regarding AI assistants released earlier this month points to even more development in the space.