Will ratgdo, Konnected or Tailwind work with my garage door opener?

Why the button color matters more than the brand on the box#

Chamberlain Group openers, sold as Chamberlain, LiftMaster, Craftsman and Merlin, do not all speak the same language over the two wall-button wires, and that language decides whether you get the documented local control that the radio advice for garage doors insists on. Older and simpler openers close the door when those two wires are shorted together, the way a doorbell works. That is a dry contact, and any relay can drive it. Security+ openers instead run a digital serial conversation on those wires, and ratgdo's documentation is blunt about the consequence: Security+ 2.0 "uses an obfuscated serial signal", which "makes it impossible to use Shelly One, Go Control, Insteon I/O linc or any other dry contact relay device to control the door."

So "will this controller work" really means "which protocol does my opener speak." The quick tell is the learn button, the one you press to pair a new remote. As Konnected puts it, "Security+ garage openers can be identified by the color of the learn button on the back of the garage door motor."

The cloud route closed when Chamberlain blocked unofficial myQ access in 2023, the story told in blinds, shades and garage doors. Each controller on this page talks to the opener over the wall-button wires rather than through Chamberlain's servers, which is the whole point of local control.

The chart: learn button, protocol, and what works#

This combines the compatibility statements of four controller makers, as published in October 2026. Where a maker's page says nothing about a combination, the cell says so rather than guess.

Columns come from ratcloud's ratgdo32 page and FAQ, Konnected's compatibility pages, Meross's MSG150 FAQ and Tailwind's iQ3 2.0 page, which claims "all known garage door opener brands" except white-button units. Konnected's blaQ page also lists blue and brown buttons as compatible, without naming their protocol.

The two exceptions the color hides#

Some yellow buttons are Security+ 1.0. ratgdo's feature notes say: "All yellow learn button openers are Security + 2.0 EXCEPT the jackshaft wall mounted 8500/RJ020 & 8500C/RJ020C which use the Security + 1.0 protocol." Ratcloud adds that wall-mounted "8500 W or RJ070 are Security + 2.0" and "all others are Security + 1.0". Set to the wrong protocol, a ratgdo will not move the door; switch protocol rather than rewire.

Some red buttons are not digital at all. ratgdo again: "Not all red learn button openers support digital communication." Such an opener ignores Security+ commands, so use dry contact control instead. Meross draws the same line from the other side: for "openers with a red learn button featuring three terminals", it recommends its universal MSG100 or MSG200 rather than the Security+ model.

Purple is Security+ 1.0, and the dates are only approximate#

Two conflicting claims circulate, and both appear on manufacturer pages.

The first is about purple. One sentence near the top of ratcloud's FAQ says "Purple is generally Security + 2.0." The same FAQ's protocol table puts red, purple and orange at Security+ 1.0, ratcloud's product page lists "security + 1.0 purple button openers", and Konnected says "A purple or red/orange learn button indicates the original Security+ protocol (Security+ 1.0)." Treat purple as Security+ 1.0; the stray sentence is the outlier.

The second is about years. Konnected's printed blaQ guide dates Security+ 2.0 "2014-present", Security+ "2005-2014" and "1997-2004"; its Security+ 3.0 page calls the yellow generation "2015~2025". Even one company's dates disagree, and a house's build year is not the opener's. Every maker here asks for the color, not the date.

Security+ 1.0: whether you get door status depends on the wall button#

With Security+ 2.0, ratgdo reads the door's real position (opening, open, closing, closed) straight off the signal wire. With Security+ 1.0 the opener only reports status when something asks for it, and ratcloud's FAQ explains that "myQ branded wall panels should all query for the door status" while ordinary panels do not. That splits Security+ 1.0 homes three ways:

• A myQ-compatible digital wall panel, such as the 889LM or 041A7928-3MC: ratgdo listens to the panel's queries and reports status. This is the case that just works.
• An analog wall panel, such as the 78LM: ratgdo queries the opener itself, which disables the panel's light and lock buttons (its door button still works).
• A non-myQ digital panel: it controls the door but never asks for status, so "ratgdo has no way to know what the door status is." Ratcloud's two fixes are dry contact control with a ratgdo encoder, or replacing the panel with an 889LM or 041A7928-3MC.

Door status is what makes a garage door safe to automate, so if a wall-panel swap stands between you and it, do the swap.

White button: Security+ 3.0 rules out every wired controller#

Chamberlain launched Security+ 3.0 with its latest openers in late 2025. The Verge reported it on 5 December 2025, quoting Chamberlain: rolling codes "now augmented with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) operating at 2.4 GHz". In The Verge's summary, wired connections "now only power the opener and safety sensors". Konnected confirms the protocol is now "encrypted bluetooth", while its blaQ works only by mimicking a wired wall button.

That is why this is not a firmware problem. Tailwind's president told The Verge that ratgdo, Tailwind, Meross and Konnected "none of those will work with Security 3.0 devices", and that "there's no possibility of any firmware updates to any of those products that will work, because those devices all communicate by a wired communication channel." The Verge also reports a new cloud check that confirms an accessory is made by Chamberlain before the opener accepts it.

Chamberlain's position, as quoted, is that it "can only allow approved integrations including Alarm.com, Resideo, Ring, Vivint and IFTTT." Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and Home Assistant are not on that list. With a white button, the options are:

1. Use myQ and its approved partners. It works, it is cloud dependent, and it is the pattern vendor shutdowns warn about.
2. Press a remote mechanically. The Verge describes Third Reality's $50 Matter controller, a box that pushes your remote's button, and expects Security+ 3.0 remotes to fit; that is its expectation, not a confirmed fit.
3. Replace the opener. Konnected's advice is blunt: "If at all possible, you should try to replace it with an older Security+2.0 generation garage opener (2015~2025) with a yellow learn button."

Buying a new opener? Add the learn button color to your buying checklist, because a white button fixes your integration options for the life of the unit.

What each controller actually is#

ratgdo32 ($62 from ratcloud, October 2026) is a bare board with holster, power supply and harness, and you flash the firmware yourself: ESPHome, HomeKit or MQTT. It suits Home Assistant users and people who want Apple Home with no hub. On dry-contact openers it needs the $28 ratgdo encoder or limit switches to know where the door is. You need one board per door.

Konnected GDO blaQ ($89) is a finished product built on the same Security+ idea, with a case and a warning strobe. It integrates locally with Home Assistant, Hubitat and HomeSeer through the ESPHome native API, and through Konnected's cloud for SmartThings and Alexa. Its install guide requires a sectional door, an opener "manufactured after 1993 with a functional obstruction sensor", and a 5-second audible and visual warning before an automated close that "cannot be disabled". Konnected's GDO White covers dry-contact openers instead.

Meross MSG150 works with Chamberlain, LiftMaster and Craftsman openers "that feature yellow, purple, or red learn buttons" on Security+ 1.0 or 2.0, with no separate door sensor or accessory remote. The universal MSG100 and MSG200 instead wire to an RGR551C accessory remote paired through the opener's learn button.

Tailwind iQ3 2.0 ($89.99, or $114.99 with a door sensor) claims every opener brand except white-button Chamberlain units, offers digital control on "many modern openers with just 2 connections and no door sensor required", and publishes a local control API alongside HomeKit, Home Assistant and Hubitat support.

Before you install: Wi-Fi, the antenna, and safety#

Every controller here joins your network over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, often from the worst-covered room in the house. Konnected asks for at least 50% signal at the mounting spot, and Wi-Fi pairing on 2.4 GHz covers setup failures. Ratcloud warns that wiring against the opener's antenna can shorten remote range, so mount the board away from it.

On safety, ratcloud's obstruction input for dry-contact openers works with sensors at 5 to 16 V and warns that "connecting higher than 18v sensors will destroy the obstruction input circuit." More important is how you automate it. Close the door from a notification you act on, never on a timer or a presence trigger alone, for the reasons in designing automations. A controller that reports real door state is what makes that safe.

Where this page stops#

• North American residential openers. Some Chamberlain and Merlin openers sold in Australia, New Zealand and Europe lack the wired serial terminal, per Konnected, and commercial openers with separate open and close inputs work with neither Konnected product.
• The mapping is the controller makers'. It is cross-checked between ratgdo, Konnected, Meross and Tailwind. A green learn button appears on none of their compatibility lists; ratcloud's rule is that everything that is not yellow, purple, orange or red "uses dry contact control", so try the bridge test.
• Genie Series III exception. Konnected lists Genie models 3022, 3024, 3042, 4022, 4024, 4042, 3062, 3064, 4062 and 4064 with serial numbers below 122494110518 as needing a dry-contact adapter.

If you have just moved into a house, add the opener to the list of things to reset and re-code. Then run your setup through the internet outage audit: a controller with a local integration keeps the garage working when the internet drops, which is the point of local control.