It is supposedly an open source standard that do not requires internet connection to work, and can use regular wifi (2,4ghz) networks as a means to connect devices so you do not need to buy a hub for them. You can create your own hub with a mini pc for instance with a regular wifi card. No need for specific hardware
No need for specific hardware
Meet zigbee2mqtt and ZHA. You only need a cheap USB adapter as a Zigbee coordinator and you are ready to go.
For matter over thread you do need a hub and you need more certifications for matter, so for manufacturers it is less open.
The standardization is a plus though.
I mean you can already do exactly that with zigbee after buying a zigbee usb connector which are extremely cheap.
I know because that’s what I have been doing for the past five years.
But to be fair my setup is now mostly IKEA so I guess I could go back to a bridge and stop having to maintain my stuff at some point.
All of this can be done with ZigBee. It is open and local mesh over 2.4ghz.