Lutron Caseta vs Kasa

Smart switches need power all the time, even when the light is off. Most of them get it from a neutral wire in the switch box. Houses wired in the last few decades have one; plenty of older houses do not, and in those boxes a switch that needs a neutral simply cannot be installed.

Caseta's dimmer is specified as not requiring a neutral. That single fact is why it is recommended so often for older homes, and it frequently ends this comparison before anything else is considered.

The Kasa dimmer here is a neutral-wire product. If your boxes have one, it is a capable switch at a noticeably lower price. If they do not, it is not a candidate - and the wider options are in smart switch without a neutral wire.

1. The radio. Caseta runs on Lutron's own low-bandwidth radio between the bridge and the switches, which is why it keeps working reliably in houses where the Wi-Fi does not reach the hallway. Kasa is one more device on your Wi-Fi.
2. The hub. Caseta needs a bridge for app control, schedules and voice; Kasa does not. That is a real cost difference at two switches and an irrelevant one at twenty.
3. Physical controls. Pico remotes stick to a wall, sit in a drawer or live beside a bed, and work without a phone. There is no equivalent in Kasa, and for anyone in the house who does not want an app, this is the whole argument.
4. Price. Kasa is meaningfully cheaper per switch. Over a whole house that adds up faster than the bridge does.
5. Three-way circuits. Both handle them, and both do it differently - Caseta with a companion remote, Kasa with a wired companion switch. Read three-way switches before buying for a stairwell.

Lutron Caseta smart dimmer - the pick for older wiring. No neutral required, dimming from the wall, the app or a Pico remote, on a radio that does not care how busy your Wi-Fi is. In a house wired before neutrals were standard in switch boxes, this is often the only smart dimmer that can be installed at all.
Cons: the bridge is a separate purchase and a separate box; the per-switch price is the highest here; and the aesthetic is specific - people either like the Lutron paddle or do not.

Kasa KS220 smart dimmer - the pick for a neutral-wire house. Wi-Fi dimming with no hub at a much lower price per switch. If the boxes have neutrals and the router reaches, this does the same everyday job for less money.
Cons: needs that neutral; depends on your Wi-Fi; and there is no battery remote to hand to someone who will not use an app.

Lutron Pico remote - the reason people stay with Caseta. A battery wall control that needs no wiring, sticks where you want the switch to have been, and raises and lowers the lights without a phone.
Cons: it is a control, not a light; it only works within the Lutron system; and one more thing in the house takes a battery.

Kasa Matter smart plug - the cheapest way into either. If the light in question plugs in, no switch is needed at all. Matter support means it works with Apple Home, Alexa and Google without committing to either system above.
Cons: it switches rather than dims; and it only helps with lamps, not ceiling fixtures.

Find out about the neutral. Power off at the breaker, plate off, look for capped white wires at the back of the box. This is the only question that can make one of these systems impossible.

Check what the switch controls. A smart dimmer on a circuit full of non-dimmable LEDs will buzz and flicker - dimmer compatibility covers the load rules.

Decide who else has to use it. If anyone in the house will not open an app, buy the system with a physical remote and save the argument.

Renting? Neither, probably. Swapping a wall switch is electrical work and a permanent alteration - plug-in dimmers, smart plugs and smart bulbs do the same jobs reversibly, and the renter set is in renter-friendly light switches.