TiltForge is in active development — reserving builds now — first units ship November 2026. Follow the build for updates, or reserve yours to claim a founders slot.
For the home automation crowd
Open your blinds.
Close your blinds.
Fix them yourself.
A retrofit motorized blind tilt for the blinds you already own — hidden inside the headrail, nothing stuck to your window. Built from parts you can actually replace.
Not ready to commit? Follow the build instead →
TiltForge Final Beta
Pairs with
Local control on your own network — no cloud account, no bridge.
Any Browser- Apple HomeKit
- Home Assistant
- Google Home
- Amazon Alexa
- SmartThings
Build it. Automate it. Fix it.
Not a slogan — the three things TiltForge is for. You pick how far you go on each one.
Build it
We made it because it didn't exist. Now every level of it is yours.
Buy it built · assemble a kit · print it yourself
Jump to itAutomate it
Whatever platform you already live in, however deep you want to go.
Matter · Home Assistant · ESPHome · its own page on your LAN
Jump to itFix it
Wear lands on the cheap parts on purpose. All three answers are open.
Buy the part · print the part · replace the unit
Jump to itSmart Blinds Shouldn’t Mean Disposable Blinds.
Most ways to automate existing blinds force you to replace perfectly good hardware with sealed motors that can’t be repaired, modified, or even manually used when something goes wrong.
Full blind replacement just to add automation
Disposable motors with no repair path
Manual control lost when the motor fails
Closed ecosystems and locked-down firmware
Designs that ignore how blinds already work
Automation That Respects the Hardware You Already Own.
Friction-Clutch Worm Drive
A compact gearmotor turns the same tilt rod your blinds already use through a small worm gear set and a preloaded friction clutch — high torque in a small package, without forcing a redesign.
Manual Control Always Preserved
The clutch gives way when you grab the pull cord — so you're never locked out of your own blinds, even if power or software fails. A magnetic encoder keeps your smart home in sync no matter who moved them.
Inexpensive to Repair
Designed around standard off-the-shelf hardware and a handful of printed parts. Replace the one thing that breaks — not the entire device.
Open by Design
Speaks Matter over Wi-Fi, and serves its own control page to any browser on your network. Home Assistant and Apple HomeKit pair directly today; Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings follow when CSA certification lands. No proprietary bridge, no cloud lock-in.
Built for Builders
Available assembled, as a kit, or as downloadable files. Full mechanical transparency — understand and modify every part of what you own.
28 of 100 founders units reserved
28%
Build it
Choose How Deep You Want to Go.
The entry point is the $69 DIY Maker Kit ($49 for the founders batch). The top is a fully assembled, pre-flashed unit. Replacement parts either way.
Reserving now for November delivery — no payment today; checkout holds your founders slot. Reservations get first claim, plus the Studio STL pack ($20) free with their unit.
Founders Batch — First 100 Units
The first 100 units ship at founders pricing, for the people who buy before there are any reviews to read. When they're gone, standard pricing applies.
Fully Assembled
$129$99
Founders pricing — standard $129 once the first 100 units are gone
A fully assembled tilt rod drive, calibrated and ready to mount.
- +Includes motor + control board
- +Pre-assembled and bench-tested
- +Ideal if you want working blinds, not a project
Reserve now, pay nothing today — checkout saves your founders slot and signs you up for build updates.
Maker Kit Complete
$89$69
Founders pricing — standard $89 once the first 100 units are gone
Everything you need to build a complete unit — you do the assembly.
- +Printed parts, hardware, and N20 motor
- +Controller board included
- +Pre-flashed XIAO C6 — no flashing required
Reserve now, pay nothing today — checkout saves your founders slot and signs you up for build updates.
Maker Kit + Controller
$79$59
Founders pricing — standard $79 once the first 100 units are gone
The complete kit minus the XIAO C6 — bring your own.
- +Printed parts, hardware, and N20 motor
- +Controller board included
- +BYO XIAO — flash our open firmware
Reserve now, pay nothing today — checkout saves your founders slot and signs you up for build updates.
Maker Kit
$69$49
Founders pricing — standard $69 once the first 100 units are gone
The pure mechanical build — bring your own electronics.
- +Printed parts, hardware, and N20 motor
- +BYO electronics
- +Full mechanical transparency
Reserve now, pay nothing today — checkout saves your founders slot and signs you up for build updates.
Founders pricing is limited to the first 100 units across all tiers. STL pack and replacement parts pricing unchanged.
TiltForge Studio (STLs)
$20
Est. pricing — subject to change
Print and build everything yourself.
- +Complete mechanical design files
- +Lifetime design revisions included
- +For printers, hackers, and labs
Replacement Parts
$10–$39
Est. pricing — subject to change
Because fixing one part should never mean replacing everything.
- +Individual component replacements
- +No bundles, no forced upgrades
- +Designed to stay available
Want the full picture? See complete parts lists & pricing.
Assembled units carry a 90-day limited warranty; kits and STLs ship as-is. Read the warranty & firmware policy.
Simple. Intentional. Mechanical.
A smart blinds retrofit in the most literal sense: TiltForge couples a compact gearmotor — through a friction clutch — to the same tilt rod your blinds already have. Automatically, quietly, and without permanently modifying anything.
A small self-locking worm gear set delivers high torque in a compact form factor and holds the slats where you leave them
Friction clutch couples the motor to your existing tilt rod
Clutch slips safely under overload — no stripped gears, no broken blinds
Manual pull cord works normally at any time, powered or not
No blind replacement or permanent modification required
Only a handful of 3D-printed structural components
Built from standard, off-the-shelf hardware throughout
The Final Beta as built, printed in PETG throughout: white case, black drive gears, an off-the-shelf motor and board. Cord or Wand swaps the attachment on the axle; drag to rotate, explode to see inside.
Automate it
Control It From Wherever You Already Are.
Every TiltForge serves its own control page over your own network, so it works with nothing installed at all. Beyond that it speaks Matter over Wi-Fi — the open smart home standard — so it drops into the smart home you already run. Assembled units and Complete kits ship pre-flashed; BYO tiers are ready the moment you flash our open firmware.
Works today
Direct on your own network. No cloud account, nothing in between.
Through Home Assistant
These three won't pair an uncertified Matter device yet, so for now Home Assistant carries them. Direct pairing lands with certification.
Straight talk: TiltForge isn't CSA-certified yet. Apple Home pairs with a one-tap “uncertified accessory” notice; Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings decline uncertified devices outright. How each one handles this can change with their app updates — we re-test as they do. Certification is on the roadmap.
Running Home Assistant? See the integration guide — stock REST or ESPHome, with copy-paste configs.
Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Home Assistant and SmartThings are trademarks of their respective owners. TiltForge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by any of them.
Automate itNo cloud at all
No App. No Account. Just a Web Page.
Matter is the easy path, but it isn't the only one. Every TiltForge also serves its own control page straight off the device. Type its name into a browser on the same Wi-Fi — no app store, no sign-up, no server in between.
- ✓
Nothing to install — it opens in any browser already on your network
- ✓
No account and no cloud round trip; the device itself serves the page
- ✓
Keeps working when your internet is down, or if TiltForge ever isn't around
- ✓
Open, close, stop, a tilt slider, and the live slat position
The same page is backed by a small REST API, which is how the no-reflash Home Assistant setup drives the blinds. See the endpoints.
TiltForge
Direct LAN control
Set tilt: 50%
Position 50% · open
State IDLE · Calibrated yes
▶ Device settings
tiltforge-5110.Fix it
When It Breaks, Your Saturday Costs an Hour.
Not $200 a window. Wear is routed on purpose to the cheap parts — the fiber clutch washers are meant to be consumed, the gear train sells as one matched set because it wears together, and the motor is a drop-in. Three ways to deal with it, and all three are yours.
Buy the part
Every wear part sells on its own, priced in the open. A dead motor costs a motor, not a unit.
- N20 gearmotor + clutch hardware (one bag)$19
- Printed drive parts (full set)$16
- Rev D control board (populated)$19
Print the part
The printed parts are in the STL set. Own it once and the plastic side of this list is free forever — and still yours if we vanish.
- TiltForge Studio (STLs)$20
Replace the unit
Or don't fix it at all. That's a legitimate answer too, and it's the only one the sealed-motor competition offers.
- Fully Assembled$99
Every part carries a QR code that opens its own specification sheet — what it is, what it does, and how it goes back in. See the sheets.
How We Stack Up
The other blind tilt motors either mount outside the headrail where you can see them, or need a hub or bridge before they reach your smart home — and they're sealed, so when the motor wears out the unit is done. TiltForge is concealed in the headrail with nothing visible on your window, speaks Matter over Wi-Fi on its own, and comes apart with a screwdriver.
| Feature | TiltForge | SOMA Tilt 2 | SwitchBot Blind Tilt | MySmartBlinds (SmarterHome) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it installs | Inside the headrail — hidden | Inside the headrail — hidden | Outside the headrail — visible | Inside the headrail — hidden |
| Fits | Internal tilt rod (wand adapter in development) | Internal tilt rod | Tilt wand or rod — external clip-on | Internal tilt rod |
| Manual control still works | Yes — friction clutch lets the cord/rod move freely | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Knows its position after a manual adjust | Yes — re-syncs automatically | Varies | Varies | Yes |
| If the motor jams | Clutch slips; gears and blinds unharmed | Sealed assembly | Sealed assembly | Not published |
| Hub or bridge needed | None for browser, Home Assistant or Apple Home | Bluetooth; Wi-Fi needs the SOMA Connect bridge | SwitchBot Hub for remote access | Proprietary bridge |
| Pairs with | Any browser, Home Assistant, Apple HomeKit; Google, Alexa, SmartThings via Home Assistant | Apple Home, Alexa, Google (via bridge) | Alexa, Google, Apple (via hub) | Own app; vendor cloud |
| Runs without a vendor cloud | Yes — local control page served by the device | Partly | No | No |
| Control without an app or account | Yes — built-in control page at tiltforge-XXXX.local | Vendor app | Vendor app | Vendor app |
| Repairable | Yes — replaceable gears and motor, socketed electronics | No — sealed unit | No — sealed unit | No — whole-unit replacement |
| Spare parts sold separately | Yes — $10–39 | No | No | No — whole-unit replacement |
| Price | $99 founders / $129 regular assembled · $69 DIY kit | $149 | $69.99 list, often discounted | Still sold via SmarterHome |
| Availability | Reservations open, first run November 2026 | Sold direct from SOMA | In stock | Sold via SmarterHome; some kits sold out |
| Matter certification | Not yet CSA-certified — a one-tap “uncertified accessory” prompt on some platforms; operation is unaffected | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Track record | First-generation product | Established, several years | Established | Long-running |
Every product here retrofits blinds you already own — what separates them is where the motor sits, what it needs to reach your smart home, and whether you can fix it when it wears out. TiltForge hides inside the headrail, driving the tilt rod your blinds already have. It speaks Matter over Wi-Fi, so it joins Home Assistant or Apple HomeKit with no hub and no account; Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings decline uncertified Matter devices, so until certification lands they reach it through Home Assistant. Point a browser at the device itself and it serves its own control page on your LAN — no app to install. A friction clutch means your pull cord always works, and if the motor ever jams the clutch slips instead of stripping a gear. Gears, motor, and board are all replaceable and sold separately from $10. It is a first-generation product and Matter certification is still in progress — some platforms show a one-tap “uncertified accessory” prompt when you pair it, which doesn't affect how it works.
“Everyone wants you to buy the whole all-in-one system. Why, when I already have perfectly good blinds?”
Frequently Asked Questions
Automate Your Blinds — Without Replacing Them.
Reservations are open. The founders batch is the first 100 builds, shipping in queue order from November 2026.
Reserving costs nothing today — it locks founders pricing, holds your place in the queue, and comes with a referral link that moves you up.
Just want updates? Follow the build — journal posts, progress, and first word when units ship.