Vacuula documents a replacement for Neato's closed servers, but its FAQ still requires internet access. For a Neato owner considering migration, running a replacement server and making the robot work offline are separate tasks.
Neato announced the phase-out of its cloud services on October 6, 2025. Its announcement said owners could still press the button once to launch a full-house run. Vacuula addresses server-based controls; it is not required for that manual cleaning mode.
This explanation examines the supplied project documentation. No installation, physical vacuum operation or network isolation test was performed. The v1.0.0 release page labels it the initial release. The capabilities and requirements below describe the supplied current documentation, which does not establish the exact feature set shipped in v1.0.0.
Check the model and installer
The server README lists generation 3 models D3 through D7 and generation 4 models D800, D8, D9 and D10 as supported. The original BotVac Connected is not supported.
Setup has two parts: run the server, then configure the robot with the separate installer. The installer README says it supports generation 3 and 4 robots and should work on Linux and Windows. On macOS, it supports generation 3 only. Owners of generation 4 robots should resolve that operating-system restriction before starting.
The current server feature table marks maps, schedules and zones/no-go lines as available. Multi-zone cleaning is marked available for generation 4 and under development for generation 3. Notifications and a Home Assistant entity are also marked unfinished. These are project-reported statuses, not capabilities tested for this explanation.
Internet requirements differ by generation
The FAQ says all supported robots currently require internet access to reach pool.ntp.org and set their clocks. It lists that time service as generation 4's only internet dependency.
Generation 3 also uses nip.io to resolve the owner's server address and has a firmware internet check directed at 8.8.8.8, Google's DNS address. The maintainers say nip.io receives the DNS request and all other robot data goes directly to the owner's server. This is their description of the traffic, not a network audit performed here.
The FAQ describes hosting a nip.io instance and rewriting requests to 8.8.8.8 to use the owner's DNS as possible workarounds. Those changes require additional network configuration, and the time-service dependency remains in the documented setup. Installing Vacuula alone therefore does not establish that a robot will work with internet access blocked.
Keep the server running
Owners must keep the server running for Vacuula to work properly. The server README recommends its Home Assistant app for Home Assistant users and Docker Compose otherwise. Hosting the server as a Home Assistant app is separate from the Home Assistant entity marked unfinished in the feature table.
The project reports testing and verifying the server on 64-bit ARM and 64-bit x86 hardware. That is the project's compatibility claim, not a measurement made here.
The FAQ proposes a local time endpoint and a bundled nip.io instance, with DNS handling still to resolve. The supplied evidence does not show those changes as delivered.
Vacuula is worth examining if your model is supported and you can maintain an always-running server. If fully offline operation is a requirement, the documented setup does not yet establish that result. Before changing the robot, check its model, the installer's operating-system support and the network dependencies for its generation.