While the TRADFRI system is fairly basic, it's cheap, ad-hoc (I also used it to make one ceiling light smart at my parents house), and integrates fully with HomeKit, which is a plus for me. Their extremely cheap shortcut buttons and motion sensors ($12) also appear as native HomeKit buttons and sensors, so you can use them in home automations without adding an extra hub or buying an expensive native Thread sensor. (And HomeKit has native support for "notify me when triggered if no one's home" on sensors, so you can make a cheap, basic home security system)
TRADFRI is also local-only with no accounts or cloud (but with some basic automation on their gateway). If you want outside control, you can connect it to Google Home/HomeKit/Alexa. (Or use something like Home Assistant and co.)
I wish they had "make light fixture smart" wall switches, though, but given the nature of IKEA I get why they stick to smart bulbs and fixtures.
TRADFRI is also local-only with no accounts or cloud (but with some basic automation on their gateway). If you want outside control, you can connect it to Google Home/HomeKit/Alexa. (Or use something like Home Assistant and co.)
I wish they had "make light fixture smart" wall switches, though, but given the nature of IKEA I get why they stick to smart bulbs and fixtures.