Home security Systems

Learn how secure your home

Our evaluation defines the best home security systems as those with fair contracts and good prices because these matter to you. We examined company websites for information and sought clarification from the services if we couldn't find what we needed to know. The companies have no input on our evaluation methodology, and we do not share our results or rankings with them prior to publication. The goal of our comparison is to empower you to choose the best alarm system for your needs. We want you have a strong understanding of contract terms so you can grasp the give and take between a security company and its subscribers. We hope our comparison simplifies your home security system choices. Costs Depend on Your Home Each monthly monitoring fee in our review is the base rate for the plan we evaluated, and other taxes and fees also affect your home security system costs each month. If the company spreads equipment costs throughout your contract, the monitoring fee might be higher as well. These monthly monitoring fees range from $25 to $54. There's a silver lining to paying for a home security system: It can lower your home insurance costs. Aside from monitoring fees, there are often starting costs you pay at the beginning of your contract. You can expect to spend an average of $120 on starting costs, which cover equipment, installation or activation fees. With few exceptions, this is a quote-based industry, which means equipment prices vary from home to home. Large homes with more points of entry need more equipment than small homes. Contracts Explain Fees & Cancellation Policies In general, contracts make it practical for home security companies to do business by offsetting operating and equipment costs. As we examined contracts, we focused on the fairness of consumer-facing policies such as length of contract, early cancellation, equipment return and auto renewal. Contract length ultimately affects your total costs and cancellation fees. Most security alarm systems have one- to three-year contracts, but some contracts are as long as five years. Two companies, LiveWatch and SimpliSafe, have no contracts, instead offering month-to-month services. Early cancellation policies often require you to pay some or most of the balance remaining on your account. However, some of these policies are fairer than others. An ideal cancellation policy has no fees, but one that requires you to pay 80 percent or less of what you owe is better than one that requires 100-percent payoff. Equipment return policies are a quicker way out of your contract that avoid most cancellation fees, but you must return the equipment shortly after installation. Some companies only give you three days to do this, though most give you two to four weeks, and a few have longer return policies. Auto renewals are standard for contracts on all home security systems. However, companies that only renew your contract on a month-to-month basis are preferable to those that renew for a year. Customer Service While every home security company offers 24/7 monitoring services, these are for emergencies, and customer service often has more limited hours. Customer service runs on the same principle as cell phone signal strength, where more bars mean a better signal. In customer service, more support channels and useful operating hours lead to a better signal. We looked at how each company offers customer service and favored those that provide support over social media. This is a reliable way to reach support since a public post or private message on a company’s Facebook or Twitter page often receives a quick response.