SwitchBot vs Nuki: which smart lock suits a UK door? Lock Pro, Nuki Go and Nuki Ultra compared

Start with the door, not the brand

Both brands sell motors that turn the lock from the inside, but they treat your existing lock differently. The SwitchBot Lock Pro and the Nuki Smart Lock Go clamp over the inside of the cylinder you already have, so nothing is removed. The Nuki Smart Lock Ultra is the odd one out: Nuki’s launch release describes an integrated cylinder, so fitting it means taking your current cylinder out and putting Nuki’s in. That one difference drives most of what follows: fit, insurance wording, and what happens if the electronics fail.

The second question is what kind of door you have. A door with a euro-profile cylinder and a single deadbolt is the easy case: the motor turns the cylinder and the door is locked. Most uPVC and composite doors are different. UK guides to multipoint doors describe the sequence: you lift the handle to throw the hooks and rollers into the frame, and only then does turning the key or thumbturn lock the mechanism. A retrofit motor can do the turning; it cannot lift the handle.

So on a multipoint door, a lock that locks itself when you leave, or that you lock from your phone, only completes the job if someone lifted the handle first. A motor cannot tell whether the handle was lifted, so treat auto-lock as unsuited to a lift-handle door whichever brand you buy; no SwitchBot or Nuki page we could read says otherwise. Neither brand is wrong for a uPVC door; you just need to know what the motor will and will not do before you buy. If you are weighing other options first, our smart locks comparison lists every lock we track.

SwitchBot Lock Pro: keep your cylinder

SwitchBot’s UK page describes the Lock Pro as a retrofit in an aluminium alloy casing that installs without DIY, and its installation videos cover euro-cylinder locks with a key and with a knob, plus an adjustment plate for awkward fits. SwitchBot’s spec tables say it fixes to the inside of the door with screws or adhesive mounting, with a thumbturn on the unit to unlock by hand, and list it at 120 × 59 × 83.9mm and 435g with batteries, for indoor use between 10°C and 45°C. Your cylinder stays, so the key still works from outside as before.

Check the inside of your cylinder before you buy. If it has a thumbturn, the motor turns that. If it has a key, the motor turns a key left in the lock, so you need a cylinder whose outside key still works while a key sits on the inside, often sold as an emergency or double-function cylinder; a locksmith can tell you which you have. SwitchBot’s UK pages we could read name euro-profile cylinders; if yours is a UK oval, as on some older doors, check SwitchBot’s current UK listing before ordering rather than relying on any guide, this one included.

Two versions exist. The standard Lock Pro is a Bluetooth lock: remote control, voice assistants and Matter run through a SwitchBot hub. SwitchBot’s UK store also sells a Lock Pro Matter Enabled model which, per SwitchBot’s own description, works with Matter without a hub. Check which you are buying, because the price difference and the need for a hub both change. Door and lock status notifications on the standard model need the hub too, per SwitchBot’s page.

Nuki Smart Lock Go (2025) with Keypad: the closest rival

The Smart Lock Go is Nuki’s like-for-like answer to the Lock Pro. Nuki’s UK page lists it at 110 × 60 × 60mm. The bundle we list (Nuki model 221210) mounts over the existing lock without drilling or a cylinder change, runs on four AA batteries supplied in the box and adds Nuki’s Keypad, which Nuki’s page describes as opening doors by code; the listing and Nuki’s comparison name Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings. Nuki’s Go compatibility guide gives the clearances: more than 30mm from the keyhole centre to frame and handle on an inward-opening door, and more than 40mm to the frame on an outward-opening one.

The catch is remote access. Nuki’s own comparison lists remote access for the Go as a separate purchase, even though the Amazon title mentions Wi-Fi; until Nuki’s UK pages say otherwise, assume that locking from outside Bluetooth range costs extra. Within Bluetooth range, the app and the keypad work without it. On a multipoint door the Go has the same lift-the-handle limitation as any clamp-on motor, and no Nuki page we could read addresses it. Nuki’s developer forum carries a feature request for UK slam-shut multipoint locks, a different mechanism, so support for UK multipoint doors is not a settled question.

Nuki Smart Lock Ultra: replace the cylinder

Nuki calls the Ultra its fastest and smallest lock, with a built-in battery that recharges in about two hours on or off the door, and its UK page gives a round body 57mm across. Its launch release says the fifth generation is three times faster at a third of the size, with three speed modes; Nuki’s product blog gives about 2 seconds for the standard unlock and 3.3 seconds for the gentler mode. The listing we track gives Wi-Fi and Matter built in, and Nuki’s press release on its Matter locks says a Matter-enabled Nuki needs neither a Bridge nor a module.

Because the Ultra comes with Nuki’s own cylinder, fit is about the cylinder you are removing. Nuki’s UK compatibility guide says the inside length, measured from the retaining screw to the inner door plate and excluding any overhang, must not exceed 68mm, and the outside length must not exceed 55mm, with extensions available for longer outside lengths. The same 30mm and 40mm clearances as the Go apply. Measure before you buy, and keep the cylinder you take out: if you sell the house, move, or the electronics fail out of warranty, you can put it back.

What you buy on top: keypad, hub and Matter, plus batteries and warranty

Fingerprint and code entry are extras on the SwitchBot. SwitchBot’s UK pages list the Keypad Touch as a separate accessory storing up to 90 user and 10 emergency fingerprints, 100 cards and 6-to-12-digit passcodes, 90 each of permanent, one-time and temporary; it is IP65-rated, runs on CR123A batteries SwitchBot says last around two years, with a two-year warranty. Phone and NFC-tag unlocking use the app or a SwitchBot Tag. For remote control and Matter on the standard Lock Pro, SwitchBot’s Matter page lists it as supported through a Matter-enabled hub such as Hub 2 or the Hub Mini Matter Enabled; Hub 2 takes eight Matter sub-devices on SwitchBot’s table.

Nuki’s Go bundle puts a code keypad in the box, which makes it the closest match to a SwitchBot with a Keypad Touch if code entry is all you need; for fingerprints, Nuki sells the Keypad 2, which its page says opens doors by fingerprint or code. We could not confirm Nuki’s code or fingerprint capacities on a Nuki page, so treat any number you see elsewhere as unconfirmed. The Ultra needs no Nuki Bridge for remote access; the Go sells remote access separately; the Lock Pro needs a hub unless you buy the Matter Enabled version.

Batteries: the Lock Pro runs on four AA cells that SwitchBot rates at 6 to 9 months, extendable to 9 to 12 with its separately sold rechargeable Dual Power Pack. The Go uses four AAs too. The Ultra has a built-in battery you recharge with a cable; Nuki’s UK page gives the two-hour recharge, but we could not confirm a months-per-charge figure on a Nuki page, so watch the app’s battery level for the first few weeks. Warranty: SwitchBot’s UK store says all its smart locks carry two years. We could not find Nuki’s UK warranty terms on its UK product pages; check them at purchase.

Insurance wording and fire escape: what the makers actually claim

Some UK home insurance policies name a standard for the lock on the final exit door, most often BS 3621. None of the SwitchBot or Nuki pages we read makes a BS 3621, TS 007 or Sold Secure claim for the Lock Pro, the Go or the Ultra. For the two clamp-on locks that is less alarming than it sounds: the cylinder and multipoint underneath are untouched, so whatever rating they carry still stands. Treat a smart lock as convenience, not as a security upgrade; it turns the lock you already have. Your policy wording, not this page, decides what counts.

The Ultra is different because you remove your cylinder. If the one you take out was rated, for example to TS 007 three-star or Sold Secure Diamond, that rating leaves with it, and Nuki’s UK pages we read make no UK rating claim for its own cylinder. Before fitting the Ultra, read your policy’s lock clause and ask the insurer in writing whether a change of cylinder affects cover. If a spare key for a carer or cleaner is the real need, a key safe listed by Secured by Design may be the simpler answer, though tell your insurer about that too.

Fire escape is the line that overrides everything else. Whatever lock you fit must still let everyone in the house get out quickly, in the dark, without a phone or a code. SwitchBot’s spec tables list a thumbturn for manual unlocking on the Lock Pro and the Lock Ultra; Nuki’s UK pages we could read do not spell out manual operation, so before relying on a Nuki, check that everyone can open it by hand from inside. Never add a second lock or a bolt that needs a key from inside. Read what to do in a house fire, and see window locks: the same rule applies.

Nuki Ultra vs SwitchBot Lock Ultra: the two ‘Ultra’ models

SwitchBot also sells a Lock Ultra on its UK store, not in the picks on this page. On SwitchBot’s UK page it is 122 × 62.6 × 66.8mm and 367g, fixes with screws or adhesive, keeps a thumbturn for manual unlocking, supports automatic locking and works with the SwitchBot Keypad; its main battery is three rechargeable 18350 cells SwitchBot rates at up to 9 months on ten operations a day, with a CR123A backup it says covers 1,000 emergency unlocks, and a two-year warranty. SwitchBot’s description lists fingerprint, auto unlock, NFC, voice and smartwatch unlocking and Apple Home Key support, and says it works without changing your original lock.

Against the Nuki Ultra, the split is the same as in the rest of this guide. SwitchBot’s Ultra keeps your cylinder; Nuki’s replaces it. Nuki’s needs no Nuki Bridge for remote access; SwitchBot’s Matter page lists the Lock Ultra as supported through a hub. Both are rechargeable: SwitchBot quotes up to 9 months a charge at ten operations a day, while Nuki quotes a two-hour recharge but no months-per-charge figure we could confirm. SwitchBot has announced newer models; check its UK store. We have not confirmed the Lock Ultra’s UK cylinder or multipoint compatibility from SwitchBot’s page, so ask SwitchBot before buying it for a uPVC door.

Which lock for which door

Pick the SwitchBot Lock Pro if you have a euro-cylinder door, want to keep your existing lock and its rating, and either already own a SwitchBot hub or only need Bluetooth control at the door. Budget for a Keypad Touch if anyone needs to get in without a phone, and for a hub, or the Matter Enabled version, if you want to check the door from work.

Pick the Nuki Smart Lock Go with Keypad if you want the same keep-your-cylinder approach with code entry in the box from day one and Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home or SmartThings on your phone, and you can live with remote access as an extra purchase or without it. Like the Lock Pro, it leaves your cylinder in place, which suits renters; ask your landlord before fitting either.

Pick the Nuki Smart Lock Ultra if you own the house, have measured the cylinder against Nuki’s 68mm and 55mm limits, want remote access and Matter without a Nuki Bridge, and have checked your insurance wording about changing the cylinder. On any uPVC or composite door, remember that all three turn the lock but none lifts the handle, so the household habit of lifting it on the way out does not go away. If you are protecting a door that is rarely used, a door and window alarm or a security camera may be the better money.