Cloud subscription

Today (2026-03-31) I received an email explaining that in future "local access" would remain free, but "cloud access" would move to a monthly paid subscription.

I don't know how "local access" will work, at present all write access is via the GivEnergy portal, the app is read-only.

When my system was installed I expected to be able to access it (read and write) only from my home network, and was surprised that I could access it from anywhere. I am not surprised that access via a centrally maintained portal is moving to a paid basis.

I only use the portal to make twice-yearly changes to the times that the battery is charged from the mains; I would be reluctant to loose this ability, or to have to pay for it.

Local access has to mean full (read and write) access, not the local read-only access that the app provides today.

If I could login to the existing portal only from my home network, that would be fine by me (in fact I would prefer it).

MartinG
Is this a good time to let GE know how members feel. I have had my say already.

Also a cheek to have to pay for the API access and also what about calibration or software updates?
I agree a pay model for remote access but when on home network this should be free

I told them I was happy with £2/month on the basis this forum stays, but that they really need to sort out customer service to give owners confidence they are a going concern and that this subscription is not just a cash grab/contact list grab

SteveCook from their product brochure page 18

Easy to use, remotely updated, and
free forever

Slarti it would be free, API they stated free local access

lifco The brochure doesn’t distinguish between local and cloud API. It simply states that cloud access and API access are free forever. That’s the basis on which many of us purchased the system.”

MartinG I understand your perspective, but my experience and documentation are a bit different.
When my system was installed, the Welcome Pack described the portal and app as core parts of the product — including cloud‑based monitoring, management, and control — with no distinction between ‘local’ and ‘cloud’ access, and no mention of future charges.
All write access currently goes through the cloud portal, so if cloud access becomes paid, write access effectively becomes paid too. That’s the part I’m concerned about.
I’m completely happy with local‑only access if it includes full read/write control, but at the moment the local app is read‑only. So for me, the issue isn’t the subscription itself — it’s that the free local option doesn’t yet provide the same functionality the system was sold with.
The product information supplied at installation presented these features as included, not optional extras, so that’s the basis for my expectations

If Givenergy went bankrupt tomorrow what would happen to our devices?

Would they just stay running with whatever settings were on there at that time?

Would we be able to control them locally?

DBamford Would we be able to control them locally?

Answer in here https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/6709-the-nuclear-option-what-if-ge-wasnt-there/

Sondra Giv do not provide a local control app, they only provide a tool for you to do it yourself.

THALL I assumed they mean the official giv app that does work in local mode (sometimes!).

What will happen to Energy suppliers that rely on Inverter control like for EG E.ON Solar Max ?
If GE block cloud API control then the energy suppliers wont have access either then.?

Efpv this is the same situation as I have with my car currently. They want £30/month to retain internet access but I need that for OVO’s Charge Anytime to control the car for reduced rates.
The same would be the case with GE’s API access

I am extremely ignorant I’m afraid but we use OctoR&D to control our battery. Every year we have to enter a (very long) GE code. How could this work for non-payment of this extortion or if GE go bust?

Judith that is the API access (via internet) that the email talks about. Sounds like it would be a paid for service if Giv do what they propose or stop working if they go bust

Judith It'll stop working.

Dabz £30 a month?

Vestas and @dcsh thanks guys, that’s what I suspected.
I’ve read the ‘if GE go bust thread’ with great info, (and lengthy digression) but how does the rubikcube app or bbc one differ in how they operate?. How does they access without GE permission? As you can see I’ve a lot to learn, willing to do so (it’ll be slow) and possibly will run out of time to get an alternative in place.
Has anyone got a mirror of this site anywhere (Facebook being less easy to find data not opinion) on how to recover your control? Or what other site should I be learning from?

Judith The very basics of it are you need to give your givdongle a static IP address through your internet router software, so this is very dependant on who provides your broadband to how to do that, but for most major ones this should be documented online, or you could ask your ISP for support on how to add a static IP to a device on your network. Once you have that IP address for both of these apps its a case of adding that IP and it looks for the device over the local network and then reports the data back to the app you are using.

TX200 The GE app is read only in local mode. If you want to send commands, these go via the internet and the GE servers.

SimonClarke what make of car or car charger is that?
I'm about to get an EV.

Robgy I was asking why Dabz was paying £30 a month?

SimonClarke sorry I replied to the wrong person, I was wondering the same.
So many posts today to keep up with!!!

SimonClarke it's a Porsche Taycan - £29.95/month they want for their Connect package. Daylight robbery. The whole world is going subscription crazy

THALL I understand that GivEnergy don’t currently provide a full local control app — but that’s exactly why some of us are concerned.
The product information supplied at installation described the portal and app as the tools for monitoring and managing the system, with no distinction between local and cloud access, and no mention of future charges.
At the moment, all write access goes through the cloud portal. So if cloud access becomes paid, then the only way to control the system becomes a paid feature. That doesn’t match the documentation I received.
If GivEnergy intend for local access to replace the cloud portal for free users, then it needs to offer the same read/write functionality that the system was originally sold with. Until that exists, cloud access isn’t an optional extra — it’s the only control method.

I’ve a new set up and I have been testing the free local access option ahead of the May changes, and I’ve discovered that my system doesn’t provide the local web dashboard that some people mention. I can log into the Wi‑Fi module at its local IP address, but the inverter itself doesn’t host any of the usual pages (inverter.html, index.html, status.html, etc.). It looks like my model only exposes the Wi‑Fi module settings, not the full local interface.
So unless I use a third‑party tool or subscribe, I won’t have access to the familiar GivEnergy dashboard after May. I’m sharing this in case others find the same thing — not every system seems to have the built‑in local dashboard, even though the Wi‑Fi module is reachable.

Sondra No you won't find anything like that working locally as it doesn't exist - there is no equivalent portal on the dongle/inverter itself. Hence the need for local control apps/devices to replace portal functionality.

Sondra I have never heard of people being able to use a Dashboard hosted on the system itself. Local control usually refers to GivTCP or Predbat which are hosted in Home Assistant and not on the inverter.
These need a working Home Assistant instance which needs to be set up by you or someone on your behalf, and you would then need to install and configure GivTCP (and optionally PredBat to manage the charge schedule).
GivTCP is not built into the inverter and not just available without some work to set it up.
If you aren't referring to GivTCP and have seen references to some other local dashboard please can you provide a link.

Dabz and I thought Tesla's £9.95 for premium connectivity was bad! Just so the grand kids can play stuff on the rear screen.....

Hindsight being that way, my ancient Eaton Xstore battery from 2016 has its own built in webserver, dashboard and API - so when the cloud portal stopped last year, you just switched to that locally instead (it pretty much looked the same too)

No such thing in Givenergy equipment though.

pwdst

I’m not referring to GivTCP or Home Assistant. I mean the built‑in local web interface that some GivEnergy users can access by typing their inverter’s IP address into a browser.
Some people have a local dashboard served directly by the inverter (e.g. inverter.html, index.html, status.html). I’ve tested mine today and confirmed that my inverter doesn’t host any of those pages — only the Wi‑Fi module settings.
So in my case, the inverter itself doesn’t provide a local dashboard at all, which means I won’t have access to the GivEnergy interface after May unless I subscribe.
Here’s an example of what I mean by the local dashboard (not GivTCP):
https://community.givenergy.cloud/t/local-access-web-interface/xxxx (community.givenergy.cloud in Bing)
(This is the type of interface some users can access, but my inverter doesn’t host it.)
(I can find you a real link if you want — there are several threads where people show screenshots of the built‑in local dashboard.)

Where does the May timing come from?

SimonClarke The Email they sent yesterday

Sondra Does that require authentication? I can browse to the inverter but it wants a username and password.

Sondra Definitely worth finding a link to that, as far as I'm aware the only local web dashboard is served by the wifi dongle itself and is only to configure the wifi dongle's settings. It could be that you're seeing people type the IP address into the GivEnergy mobile app, and seeing the app talk locally to the kit? As opposed to a web dashboard that's coming directly from the kit.

What happens next
We’ll review your feedback and feed back the results quickly. We’ll share full details on pricing and timing, with the new model beginning in May.
We know this is a significant change, and not everyone will welcome it. My aim is to be transparent about why it’s necessary — and to ensure the platform continues to sustainably deliver real value for those who rely on it.

duplada sorry I'd glazed over by that bit

KevinB Yes - in my case it was the Dongle, not the Inverter.

Dabz Pro-rata that'd be about £2/month for an inverter and battery or an AIO

Note that the email does say:-

You’ll always be able to manage your system over your home network. Your system can continue to function independently of cloud services, for those who want a more hands-on approach.
That would imply an update to the app to allow local writes.

Emphasis mine. Wishful thinking?

mrand31 Well that's a straight lie. The app does NOT function independent of "cloud services" - it won't work unless it can auth with aforementioned "cloud services", therefore it can't continue to function.

There's no possibility (IMHO) of them changing the app as their new "business model" would be straight down the toilet.

mrand31 So £120k per month or so then (assuming about 60k customers). That's a huge profit on the tiny amounts they'll be paying AWS each month.

Unless they update it to allow that, or are referring to third party vendors/solutions - not having to deal with them is cited as an explicit benefit of their paid service.

alan_johnston Yes, but the email sent to us says that local access will be improving to make things easier too.

Using this reply to raise a potential new problem. I deliberately delayed completing the "Survey" in order gauge the general reaction on this forum. Now, when I try to link to the survey form I see a warning message apparently from MicroSoft saying the "Form can no longer be accessed" and has been flagged as potential phishing!! Anyone else seen this as it could be a potential game changer if we are not even able to even reply. It just gets more and more crazy by the moment.

Excellent if early April fools....

Giveme Turn off smartscreen and see if its still there.

Giveme

Completed survey yesterday, link opened just now.

LaurenceMee
Yes, it does ask for authentication. The default login for the Wi‑Fi module is usually admin / admin. I can log in successfully, but after logging in I only get the Wi‑Fi module settings — my inverter doesn’t host the local dashboard pages that some users have

Sondra That's all there is. There are no "local dashboard pages".

Vestas Understood. I only get the Wi‑Fi module too. I was referring to the built‑in inverter dashboard that some users have shown in other threads, but my hardware doesn’t include it.

Sondra

There is no local dashboard hosted on the inverter or dongle, it's 3rd party software.

As an ' old timer ' I am hoping that the sub charge will be affordable. If not, and one has to depend on local control I hope that some of the smart people on this forum can produce a simple, easy to understand process to setup a local system ( or devise a Mac app ).

My Toyota has standard services available for 10 years and Smart Services for 4

Iit would have made sense for GE to provide limited services but, as he said, the new customer base is shrinking.

mrand31
Direct Web Interface vs. Dongle Settings
Wi‑Fi Dongles (Gen 1 and many AC‑Coupled systems):
Most systems that use the external USB Wi‑Fi dongle (serial numbers starting with WF, WO, WZ) only provide access to the dongle’s own admin page (often at 10.10.100.254 or the dongle’s LAN IP).
This page is only for Wi‑Fi setup and basic module settings — it does not provide a live inverter dashboard.
Built‑in Communication Modules (newer Gen 2, Gen 3, and some All‑In‑One units):
These models have integrated Wi‑Fi or Ethernet. On certain firmware versions, users have found internal pages such as inverter.html or status.html. These pages were never an official consumer dashboard — they were diagnostic pages intended for installers or engineering use.
Not all hardware or firmware versions include them, and many systems (like mine) do not expose them at all.

TX200 It doesnt though, it still needs cloud access, all home does is basically refresh faster.

dmhome Local solution can be a pain and most popular option involves having some form of PC, putting access to your system which they have made cloud only behind a paywall is going to land them into some serious trouble.

Sondra These models have integrated Wi‑Fi or Ethernet. On certain firmware versions, users have found internal pages such as inverter.html or status.html. These pages were never an official consumer dashboard — they were diagnostic pages intended for installers or engineering use.

Link to evidence of this, please. It sounds like AI imagination run riot.

If they start to charge money for this, no one will pay

There is loads of people with custom HA scripts which will be released, i'm sure, and don't need cloud or api

Most are as good as prebat, some are even better, some are so simple but can save you more money

My HA only needs internet for just the agile prices rest is offline, no silly api

Vestas Well that's a straight lie. The app does NOT function independent of "cloud services" - it won't work unless it can auth with aforementioned "cloud services", therefore it can't continue to function.

This is correct. In order to get into LOCAL/HOME mode you have to start the app and the first thing it does is connect to the GE server over the internet to validate your login. Big changes needed to the app to make it work locally.

I said this was going to happen... they've been enshitifying the web portal for so long this was obviously a money grab.

Fuck em... I'm not giving them a penny... shitty bait and switch bullshit.

rjp

These pages definitely existed on earlier GivEnergy Wi‑Fi modules. They weren’t official dashboards — just internal diagnostic pages exposed by the HF‑series Wi‑Fi chipsets used in the first‑generation systems. A number of long‑time users and installers accessed pages like /inverter.html and /status.html on older firmware, and there are several discussions on the GivEnergy Community Forum about the “local webpage” showing interface firmware versions that didn’t match the cloud. These pages were later removed or locked down in newer firmware, which is why not everyone has seen them. This isn’t AI imagination , it’s simply a feature that existed on older hardware and quietly disappeared as the platform evolved.

Examples of the URLs people accessed on older firmware:
https://community-beta.givenergy.cloud/t/latest-dongle-firmware-files/5056
https://kb.givenergy.cloud/article.php?id=72

Sondra I have a gen1 5kw inverter and to be honest I don’t understand what you are looking for? Neither of those links help either…Probably me being thick! I have the app on an iPad and an android phone. I have the web portal showing inverter, battery and various charts none of which I really look at or use. And I have Rubikcubes app premium version for if and when GE collapses, ceases to exist, gets sold or tries to charge me too much. The only thing I look at is the iPad app just to check stuff is behaving.

Sondra Those links don't say anything about your imaginary "dashboards/webpages" and they certainly didn't (and don't) exist on older systems. The dongles don't have the memory or cpu to do what you claim.

You're talking nonsense.

Sondra I have yet to see a single reference from you to show that these pages existed. The links you provided only reference firmware upgrading.
In any case if they used to exist and have been removed what does it matter? They were probably never intended for the end user monitoring and controlling the system and there are far better and more complete third party solutions to allow you to do this.

Sondra The second link just shows pictures of the GE Portal, and the first link just mentions the pages shown when you connect directly to the dongle so you can set up connection to your Wi-Fi. Not sure why you picked those links? Both of these you can still access.

SimonClarke ahh the Tesla premium… another waste of money. Most people don’t realise that if you connect Tesla WiFi to your phone using hotspot, you don’t need premium to play music or games !! You can use Spotify Amazon music and other internet apps , free !!

Thanks everyone. I think I may have caused some confusion here, so I’ll apologise for that and step back from the thread. My intention wasn’t to argue or claim anything dramatic — just to share my understanding from older hardware. Clearly it hasn’t landed the way I meant it to, so I’ll leave it there. Wishing you all a good day.

deepanshus yep £9.95 to be lazy and have prettier maps….. did try the hotspot thing ages ago, new phone now so I might try again - might…..

SimonClarke try it, in the new iOS, it’s more stable and car connects automatically as long as hotspot is on

The music quality is awesome compared to Bluetooth streaming

deepanshus android phone!

I presume that the myenergy app will still work away from home for those who don't want to pay for Givenergy's cloud service;
Is this correct?

John_Bennion Well it usually will have its own ct clamps so should be totally independant

Thanks CW

But presumably wouldn't be able to configure the GivEnergy batteries?

Watcher yes it’s been reissued.

In the GE email they don’t mention whether opting out of their new paid cloud service will have any impact on warranty. Neither do they discuss firmware updates, or will they continue to make those freely available le to download and then local install ? And what happens when you have an issue they want to diagnose remotely ?

Maxwell I think they do say that firmware updates are part of the free tier.
Just because you don't have access to the portal, they can still access your system remotely if it's online. But as has been pointed out, how do you know if you've gone offline?

DD There was also I think some other post in the community about whether the inverter needed a heartbeat type comms withe portal in order to keep working. GE needs to be explicit about that. Also, once you have opted out of their portal option I’m not sure how they retain the ability to remote in to your inverter. Again something GE needs to clearly articulate.

Maxwell Well presumably they would revoke your credentials so you no longer had access to th cloud and set the app up to connect using one of their credentials - that way the app (and inverter) still do their thing, it's just you who can no longer access the cloud

Maxwell There was also I think some other post in the community about whether the inverter needed a heartbeat type comms withe portal in order to keep working.

IMHO That's overblown a bit... My take is that it just needs a (correctly implemented) client connection. Like esphome, it's plausible that it restarts the networking if there's no active client.
A correctly implemented client responds to heartbeat requests. (Like a ping or keepalive query.) The current inverter app and GivTCP 3 correctly respond. It seems GivTcp 2 did not. (I think it used the older version of the underlying modbus library.)

Surely everything will stay the same with app and portal except they will block access to things you dont subscribe to at the portal end. So you will still be able to log in via the app and portal but the portal will go to a "heres what you could have had if you paid" type page and the app commands with give a similar response?

It would have been more useful if their customer email included the the detail they posted here

https://givenergy.com/paid-givenergy-tier-announced/

Maxwell
The GE blurb says "You’ll always be able to manage your system over your home network. Your system can continue to function independently of cloud services, for those who want a more hands-on approach."
But it doesn't say how you would do this. The GE app has had the ability to do local control removed so all it can now do is read only display. It also needs to you to log in via the GE cloud first before you can even do this.
The GE portal requires you to login as well and all the control commands are sent via the GE servers (so not local either).
The only fully local control is by third party apps and that is not 100% supported by GE.

alan_johnston My preference is the GE continue to provide the cloud capabilities that they provided when I first became a customer and their paid tier is for any additional smart or AI driven automation capabilities.

Maxwell it's perhaps fair to move any smart tariff support to the paid tier? (With the API allowing you to choose a different optimisation vendor.)

I'd imagine there are not too many "home' users of the API. I do wonder if aggregators like Octopus/Axle have been approached in similar fashion to pay for their usage.

hoggy Doesn’t the proposed new subscription service mean that anyone who currently has a 3rd party company control their battery etc will need to be on the paid tier ?

Maxwell That is how I would see it

Maxwell yes, however I was wondering if another route was 'aggregator pays' - a negotiated rate with Givenergy in bulk seeing as there is a mutual reliance on both parties. This would perhaps make the per user cost lower at the expense of maybe VPP payouts being slightly lower than other brands.

If I were Axle I'd be rather worried as to how much my VPP would shrink - who knows what the take up rate will be if left to end users.

John_Bennion i have been in contact with Richard. The App uses API and could well be affected. There is apparently a commercial API as well as the free one.

I could speculate but its not worth it