Like the other user mentioned: depends on your setup.

I have recessed lighting throughout my house, so swapping to bulbs for all of them would have been an expensive pain. So I opted for smart switches. I got innovelli reds, because they were the best there was at the time. You can get them with any protocol you want (zigbee/zwave/wifi)

With a smart switch, you can control lots of lights with only one device. Originally I just added Shelly relays behind each switch, but I wanted the dimming capability of the innoveli.

If you do still want bulbs, nothing beats hue. But they are by far the most expensive.

I think you gotta fix the door before you can have complete confidence.

My automated deadbolt can ‘force’ its way shut when it has full battery. But when it gets low on juice, the door needs to be ‘fully shut’

So your best bet is to better align your strike plate so the door doesn’t need shimmied to close fully.

Door locks and garage door openers are sweet to automate. My instance knows if I left by car/bike/foot, and welcomes me home with the proper unlocking/opening.

Also, never having to worry about if I left the door unlocked or garage door open is nice.

You can tell it’s an IT guy’s home assistant if there’s no hardware that requires someone else’s cloud.

My home automation philosophy is that everything in the house should work with or without internet. It’s going well so far.