I share your pain. I bought the iHost planning to use the Google Assistant with the eWelink.
I was a HA user and use the Google Assistant without a subscription were
difficult and cumbersome.
Now in iHost I need to use the Google Assistant with nodeRed and a third party, loosing the “local control” feature.
If you want, the devices can be controlled from outside the house without a VPN. I think with Alexa too you can do something like that. Other alternative is use the Apple HomeKit. Its what we have from now:
How to control iHost devices with Google Assistant through Node-RED