I wanted to hate Google’s decision to kill the Nest Thermostat, but it was the right one

If you’re still holding onto an old Nest thermostat, Google recently broke some bad news about its future. The 1st and 2nd gen versions of the Nest Learning Thermostat are officially being laid to rest, with Google ending software updates and killing Nest/Google Home app compatibility on October 25. You’ll still be able to use them as traditional thermostats, but almost all of the smart functionality is going away.

If you’re upset or frustrated by this news, I don’t blame you. The models in question may be old, but if you’ve got one and it’s still working well, hearing that it’ll be reduced to a “dumb” thermostat in just a few months isn’t the best feeling.

Upon first seeing the news, I was right there with you. But after taking a step back and thinking it over, I think Google ultimately made the right call.

In 2025, the Nest Thermostat lineup is … complicated. Right now, Google sells the 4th gen Nest Learning Thermostat and the baseline Nest Thermostat — both of which are controlled exclusively through the Google Home app. They’re the thermostats most deeply integrated into Google’s smart home ecosystem, and on their own, they make sense. But then there’s the rest of the thermostat portfolio.

While they’ve since been discontinued, Google currently supports the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen Nest Learning Thermostats (plus the Thermostat E)  — all of which were initially controlled via the Nest app but were then ported over to Google Home. For context, the 1st and 2nd gen thermostats have been around since 2011 and 2012, respectively, long before Google acquired Nest in 2014. That means Google has had to support decade-old hardware while still building its current smart home ecosystem.

While it hasn’t always been perfect, Google has done a fair job balancing everything. It’s continued to release new Nest hardware and regularly expand the Google Home app experience, all while still supporting the old hardware models it took responsibility for when it bought Nest. But that could only last for so long.

To truly move forward and create a smart home ecosystem for the future, that means not being shackled by outdated hardware. And that’s almost certainly what the 1st and 2nd gen Nest thermostats have been doing.

So, Google had a decision to make: Keep supporting the first two generations of the Nest thermostat, likely at the expense of features and functionality for newer models? Or, wind those old models down and look ahead — potentially at the expense of its longest, most dedicated users?

It would have been one thing for Google to sunset its old thermostats and leave owners in the dark, but that’s not happening. If it were, this conversation would be different. Instead, Google is doing a lot to make the transition as painless as possible.

Google says it’s reaching out to 1st and 2nd gen Nest Learning Thermostat owners to offer them up to a $130 discount off the 4th gen Nest Learning Thermostat — taking it from $280 down to just $150. Better yet, if you have multiple old thermostats, you’ll get discount codes for each one.

For example, if you have two 2nd gen thermostats and purchase two 4th gen models, you’ll get $130 off each one for a total savings of $260. A Google spokesperson confirmed to Android Authority that the offer is valid for up to three new thermostats, meaning you could get up to $390 in savings.

If you ask me, this is more than generous. Google is essentially giving you over a hundred dollars for a thermostat that’s up to 14 years old. The company could have easily offered substantially less (or nothing at all) considering the thermostats’ age, so getting that amount of money for a gadget that’s over a decade old is pretty incredible.

Having a product you use get killed by a company is never a good feeling, but love it or hate it, it’s repeatedly proven to be an unavoidable consequence with consumer tech. That’s not to say it’s something you should be happy about, but it’s how companies move forward to make newer and better things — and Google is far from the first to do so.

If there’s one thing to be concerned about, it’s what this might mean for the future. The 3rd gen Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Thermostat E will almost certainly face a similar outcome.

We can hope Google will be as forgiving and generous when that time comes, but what if it isn’t? And what if those thermostats don’t have as long of a life as the 1st and 2nd gen models did before getting axed? Announcements like this always raise a lot of uncertainty, especially for a company like Google with an infamous reputation for launching and shutting down products, seemingly on a whim at times.

Those are valid worries to have, but considering how well Google is handling the death of the 1st and 2nd gen Nest thermostats, there’s reason to believe other such situations in the future will be dealt with just as well. I fully expect my old 3rd gen Nest Learning Thermostat to get the boot sooner rather than later, and if Google treats its departure just like it’s doing with the 1st and 2nd gen models, I’ll be a pretty happy camper.