In Medellín almost nobody installs a knob-style smart lock like the ones on houses in the United States. What's normal here is a metal security door with a mortise lock: a lock body inside the door leaf, handles on both sides, and on newer versions fingerprint, PIN, card, and even facial recognition.

That form matters when you buy. A cylinder or deadbolt lock doesn't replace that mortise body without changing the door or doing metalwork. That's why this guide sticks to locks that actually fit the door you already have.

But size and finish aren't the most important part. What decides whether the lock works in a smart home is the app and whether you can talk to the lock without asking anyone for permission.

Our order of preference

1. Local over Zigbee or Matter, with Home Assistant and no cloud. The lock talks to your home server. If internet drops, everything keeps working.
2. Tuya / Smart Life, with local control in some cases through Tuya Local or LocalTuya.
3. TTLock, which works through the cloud but has an open, documented API.

1. Zigbee or Matter: ideal, but not yet in mortise

Being honest: today we haven't found any mortise lock for a security door, sold on Amazon with shipping to Colombia, that works over Zigbee or Matter locally. That's the standard we want, and the market still doesn't bring it in this format.

The near exception is the TCL lock with Matter over Thread. It's local and enters Home Assistant without a cloud, but it's a deadbolt, not mortise. It works if your door accepts a standard deadbolt—for example an interior wood door or an apartment with American-style prep. On a typical Medellín security door it doesn't fit without modifying it.

If you want to understand why we insist so much on Zigbee and Thread, we explain it in Zigbee and Thread: the network that makes a smart home reliable.

2. Tuya / Smart Life: the format that's easiest to find

Most mortise locks with fingerprint and face that arrive in Colombia use the Tuya or Smart Life app. The app works well and Home Assistant can see them through the Tuya cloud integration.

On local control we need to be clear. Tuya Local (the make-all/tuya-local project) and LocalTuya do control many Tuya devices without going through the cloud, but their own documentation explains that battery Wi‑Fi devices that don't use a hub can't be managed locally, because they sleep to save battery and only wake to talk to Tuya's server. Almost all of these locks are battery Wi‑Fi. In practice, that means:

• The official Tuya integration in Home Assistant shows status, but doesn't always allow lock and unlock. Community integrations add that function using Tuya's cloud API.
• If the lock comes with a Zigbee version and hub, the picture improves: a Tuya Zigbee device is usually standard Zigbee and can pair directly with ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT, without the cloud.
• If internet drops, fingerprint, PIN, and face still open. What you lose is remote control.

That's why Tuya stays second: best availability, good app, but local control depends on the model and how it connects.

3. TTLock: cloud, but open

TTLock is the platform behind many locks without a well-known brand. It works over Bluetooth with the app and over the internet through a gateway. Its advantage is an open developer API: you can create keys, delete them, and read logs from your own code.

I built my own integration with an unbranded TTLock lock in Medellín. A script reads a calendar, creates a key that only works for those dates, and deletes it when it expires. I didn't need a packaged solution or an expensive brand with commercial agreements. I only needed the tool not to block me.

The cost is dependence on TTLock's cloud. If their service goes down, the lock still opens with fingerprint or PIN, but the automation stops.

Aqara, Hikvision/Ezviz, and Xiaomi

These brands have mortise locks in other markets, and Aqara in particular has models with Matter support. But when we searched their mortise models on Amazon with a delivery address in Medellín, they didn't show up with shipping to Colombia. Some Aqara deadbolt models appear, but they can't be shipped. If you get one through another channel, check which app it uses and whether it needs its own hub before you buy.

Locks that do arrive in Medellín

We checked each one on Amazon with a delivery address in Medellín. All cost under US$200 at the time of writing. Prices and availability change often, so confirm before you buy.

• TianfuSpanda with facial recognition (Tuya). Face, fingerprint, PIN, and doorbell. Around US$173.
• Lock with face and palm-vein recognition (Tuya or TTLock). Around US$170 plus about US$24 shipping.
• EIYSIE (Tuya). The cheapest mortise option with an app we found, around US$118.
• TTLock lock. For anyone who wants the open API. Around US$150.
• TCL with Matter over Thread. Local and cloud-free, but it's a deadbolt, not mortise. Around US$160.

Before you buy, measure the lock body you have today: faceplate length, distance between the handle and the cylinder, and door thickness. Most installation problems start there.

What we recommend

If you have a security door with a mortise lock, today's practical decision is between Tuya and TTLock. Choose Tuya if you want the best app and more models. Choose TTLock if you want to manage keys from your own system. And when a mortise lock with Zigbee or Matter that ships to Colombia appears, that goes straight to first place.

Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.