Built by growers, for growers
We got tired of choosing between overpriced commercial controllers and unreliable DIY projects. So we built something better—and open sourced it.
Why we built Phyt
It started with a simple frustration: why does hydroponic automation cost so much and do so little?
Commercial controllers charge $500-2000+ for what amounts to an ESP32, some relays, and software that treats you like a subscriber rather than an owner. They lock you into their ecosystem, hold your data hostage, and sunset products whenever it suits them.
The alternative? Cobble together an Arduino project from forum posts and hope it survives the weekend.
We knew there had to be a middle ground: production-ready automation that respects your ownership, runs on affordable hardware, and puts the intelligence in software—not a markup.
So we built it. And we open sourced it, because the best way to prove you're not building another lock-in trap is to give everyone the keys.
What we believe
Open Source First
Everything we build starts as open source. The firmware, backend, dashboard, and hardware designs. Closed source is the exception, not the rule.
Right to Repair
You should be able to fix your own equipment. Our schematics are public, our firmware is flashable, and we design for repairability—not planned obsolescence.
No Lock-in, Ever
Your grow should never depend on our survival. Self-host everything, export your data anytime, switch between our cloud and your own infrastructure freely.
Growers Before Growth
We're not chasing hockey-stick metrics. We're building something useful for people who grow plants. Sustainable business beats unsustainable growth.
Who's building this
Other Team Members
ML Research & Development
We work with people who love sensor based machine learning and are passionate about solving problems with data. While none are full time yet, we hope to put their faces here soon. If you're interested in joining us, please check out our GitHub and reach out to us.
Want to join us? We're always looking for contributors. Check out our GitHub
Where we've been, where we're going
2024
The Problem
Frustrated with $500+ controllers that locked you in and DIY solutions that barely worked, we started building something better.
2024
Open Source Foundation
Released the first version of the firmware and backend as open source. Started building a community around the project.
2025
Beta Launch
Opening up to 50 beta testers to validate the hardware design and gather feedback on the cloud platform.
Future
General Availability
Launch pre-made hardware kits and the full cloud platform. Continue expanding sensor support and ML capabilities.