Best Outdoor Permanent Lights (2026): Govee, Eufy, Cync

Permanent edge lights that connect to your home's exterior are growing in popularity. But are they worth the effort and cost?

Permanent outdoor lights may not seem useful now that we're heading into summer, but they're actually great for year-round use. The name suggests exactly what they are: a type of string lights designed to stay up year-round instead of coming down after the occasion you hung them up for, whether it's the holiday season or a big party that inspired you to spruce up your front porch.

Whether these lights are truly "permanent" is up to you, as you can attach them to your home with screws or glue. Note that they may not be suitable for the architecture of every house - you need edged, preferably flat, edges to hide thick cords. Our favorite options are from Govee ($440, 100 feet) and Eufy ($300, 100 feet). Both are great sets that you can cut and customize to your home's roofline. My favorite affordable set is from Cync ($143, 100 feet) - it's easy to use and install and has great color options.

No matter which collection you choose, these lights are made for year-round enjoyment. It's not just for your basic holidays like Christmas and Halloween: Merck's Cat Wire critic uses his color in the post-holiday season to show off the colors of his wife's favorite sports team, and I have big plans to use permanent lights mounted to the balcony railings to light up my next party.

April 2026 Update: We've updated the prices and details in this guide for the summer and added new sections on the best time of year to use and buy these types of lights.

AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron

What to Look for in Permanent Outdoor Lights

What time of year should permanent outdoor lights be used?

If you cannot install permanent lights outdoors

Permanent outdoor lights are exactly what they sound like: outdoor lights mean they're permanently installed in your home, so you don't have to climb up and down a ladder every Halloween and Christmas season. They're similar to smart Christmas lights like the Twinkly ($120) and Philips Hue lights ($210) and other smart lighting options like the Philips Hue Smart Bulbs ($99) in that they connect to an app and have custom color control.

The lights we recommend below are all suitable for DIY, but you can also hire a professional to install them in your home. Some high-end brands, such as JellyFish and Gemstone, are only for professional installation. Hiring an installer is still recommended if you have more difficult-to-achieve beveled edges or a more complex home design, which may add significantly to the overall cost.

The most important thing to check is whether your home is even compatible with permanent outdoor string lights. If your home has any of these features, you should benefit from the installation:

Accessible eaves are often found in one or two story homes

Flat, smooth materials, including glass, cement, wood, or metal, under the eaves (or other points on your home's exterior where the lights will live permanently, such as a porch or pergola)

Access to an outlet, ideally outdoors that is at least partially covered to protect the control box, or the ability to run a wire to one from inside the garage or other indoor space

Most one- and two-story homes can accommodate permanent outdoor lighting because they usually have roofs that are accessible on both levels. For example, Govi ​​claims its permanent outdoor lights ($440) will work on everything from cottages and tiny houses to large houses and even mansions. (I'm sorry to report that no, I didn't have a mansion available for my testing.) Eufy (another collection we recommend!) warns that some paints, including those with texture, can prevent its permanent outdoor lights ($300) from securely adhering.

Most permanent outdoor lights have several options for attaching them to your home, from adhesive tabs to more permanent screw-on options, although some brands may require you to purchase anchors separately. Some of our testers successfully used the adhesive options, while others used the included screws to ensure the lights didn't move. It depends on the style of your home and your personal comfort which style you want to use. We've been testing duct tape for the better part of six months in the US Midwest with great success, but obviously duct tape isn't as permanent as drilled anchors.

Here are some styles of home where permanent lights are difficult to install or may require a professional to install:

Houses and properties with stucco exteriors

Homes with butt-edge styles that do not allow for smooth adhesion

Three-story houses without frontage on the lower floors

Townhouses and condominiums that don't allow for permanent alterations, or have roof styles that match these styles.

I live in a three-story townhouse with stucco cladding, which precludes me from installing most permanent outdoor lights. The stucco makes it impossible to stick anything to it, and I have an HOA that prohibits "permanent alteration" to my exterior, so they're going to poke me with a frown. And most importantly, with my townhouse, I don't have a decent roof plan to hide the strip of lights when they're off.

But that doesn't mean I have zero options (more below on what I can do instead). However, if you want a complete home look, you need a house with a more standard roof.

Most permanent outdoor lights are very similar, with poke lights on a string. How different can they be, right? Well, we've found a few features that really set a collection apart.

Cutting and joining abilities. WIRED reviewer Kat Merck has tried two different sets of permanent lights in her home, and she finds the ability to cut and connect lights a key feature. Many homes have a variety of architectural features such as gables, gables, and ridgeless sections, so the ability to cut the cord and butt the cord ends together creates a much more customized and professional look. Our favorite sets from Govee ($440, 100 feet) and Eufy ($300, 100 feet) both include this capability.

Weatherproof. Hermodel needs an IP (weatherproof) rating to survive outside, so if you don't see one, don't buy those lights. There's usually a lower rating for the control box than the rest of the lights, so make sure you can put it where it's a little less exposed to the elements. (As mentioned above, make sure you have an outdoor outlet and check if there's only one outlet on a certain side of your house, if that limits your installation options.)

A wide range of mounting options You want a kit that has many options for mounting yourself, including glue and drill mounting options. What you need will vary based on your home design and materials. For example, you want glue for houses where you can't drill holes. WIRED reviewer Kat Merk, who tested a few different permanent lights, liked the sets with screw-on holders that the puck-style permanent lights can spin on.

Control for individual lights This should be a no-brainer, but some cheaper lights don't offer this ability or don't have the added hurdles of custom control. Make sure you have easy individual controls, or you may be disappointed with the design results of these lights. This is similar to the design controls you see on smart bulbs and smart incandescents.

A great app This comes with the need for individual light control - a good app will determine whether that and other features are accessible. Govee and Eufy, two of our favorite permanent outdoor lights we've tried, both have great apps that are easy to use and come with light themes preloaded. These tech companies make more than just outdoor lights, including our other favorite gadgets, so they're a good brand to trust when it comes to building a usable product and app. We also like Lepro's more affordable lights, though this app had extra rings to access controls, while Lumary's app was an unwieldy experience for our tester.

Most people like this style of lights for fall and winter. This is a great time to set them up and use them, as you have Halloween and Christmas decorations that permanent outdoor lights can complement with colorful holiday scenes. The days are also shorter, so you have more nighttime hours to use these lights.

They're a fun way to decorate your home for a sports game, especially for big games like the Super Bowl (WIRED reviewer Kat Merk, a resident of Washington state, was surprised to discover how many people in her neighborhood had permanent lights this past February) and the World Cup, or for smaller holidays like St. Patrick's Day or the Fourth of July. They're a fun way to enhance your home's nighttime appeal year-round (although if you have an HOA, you may have to check your rules about light displays regularly) or add a little pizzazz to your next outdoor party. No matter what you use it for, there is no wrong way or wrong time of year to use these lights.

We've tested a handful of permanent lights in various homes and have a few clear favorites. These are all options we recommend, provided your home's exterior meets the limitations listed above.

This model from Govee was one of our top picks in our Christmas smart lights story for a reason, and it's still one of our favorites at this price point for everything you get with it. WIRED reviewer Simon Hill tested the 100-foot string, which had six segments, plus an internal code. He used glue and screw clamps to secure the spikes and cables, making it easy to install. It's a kit you can cut and piece together, but he says it's not for the faint of heart. It has an IP67 rating and an IP65 rating for the control box. The handy companion app has everything you could ask for: color controls, lots of scenes (Govee lighting effects), timers, and even a music sync option (though it sounds a little gimmicky). There's support for Matter, and Govee can connect to the Alexa and Google ecosystems for voice control. Simon says he likes the lights to be closer together and the design a little more subtle because you can see the wires more easily.

WIRED reviewer Kat Merck tested two sets of permanent outdoor lights in her home, and Eufy's S4, which features RGB with warm and cool whites, is her favorite. It's easy to navigate the app and find the features you want, from preset holiday scenes (120!) and colors to timing and lighting. Settings There's even an AI feature that lets you create custom light shows based on moods and scenarios. Installing them on his house, which has non-standard architectural features, was relatively easy, as the set has extensions and can be cut and joined together. He says the lights aren't as bright as the Lumari Max below, but the brightness is adjustable. A radar motion sensor is also included, although he never managed to get it to work. The Eufy S4 series also works with the Matter protocol, so it will work with Apple, Google and Alexa smart home ecosystems. Like the Govee collection above, it has an IP67 waterproof rating. They have been in Kat's house for over six months and are still working fine with no issues.

Dynamic effects of outdoor smart earring lights

Cync, from the GE home appliance maker, makes affordable smart bulbs and other smart lights that I love, so it's no surprise that I also love the brand's Smart Eave lights. They were easy to install with the 3M tape already on the individual lights, and since my eaves are out of reach in my townhouse, I used the lights on my balcony railing with great success. One piece from the 100-foot set (comes with four wires plus an extension) was the perfect length to loop around my 9-foot fence. The set connects quickly to the Cync app and the power cord is nice and long to make it easy to access wherever your power outlet is. It has IP65 waterproof rating. They have been my endbalcon for the better part of six months and have held up well so far.

Not every house is suitable for these types of lights. I have yet to find a permanent light set that works with my house, so here's what I've used instead for the same result.

Twinkly smart string lights are IP44 weatherproof rated for lights and power supply. This means they are splash proof but not waterproof, so you can use them outside, but make sure they are somewhat protected. I love how much you can customize these lights. You use the app to take a photo of how you've arranged your lights, whether it's around your Christmas tree, around your balcony railings, or along the front of your house, and then you can customize the lights and patterns based on how they're arranged. There are tons of fun light designs already in the app, and you can make your own. If you can only do string lights but want smart features, this is a good option. These lights are also compatible with Amazon, Google and Apple ecosystems. Twinkly also makes an ice-style smart string light ($110) that I like to use outside as well. They hung above my garage door for the holiday season.

Cync Outdoor Light Bar $154: I was really hoping this would be a good outdoor lighting solution for my balcony, but this light bar is heavy and tall and better designed to cover a yard rather than a fence. It comes with a grass stick.

EE1 Lepro AI for $113 (50 feet): These permanent outdoor lights are currently sold out, but they're a more affordable option. However, they're not as cheap as Cync, and you'll have to bypass the app's AI to really get the most out of it.