ADT Home Security Systems Pricing and Package Costs

Packages & Monitoring

ADT offers three different packages1: Secure, Smart, and Video and Smart Home. You can also build your own customized package, which starts with a foundation that includes three door/window sensors and a motion sensor.

ADT Packages and Monitoring Analysis

ADT didn’t stay in business this long by being rigid. The company knows that customers have different capacities to pay, and so it allows some flexibility in terms of equipment payments. ADT shoppers can choose to pay everything upfront or pay in installments over the course of 24, 36, or 60 months.

If you choose the former, you’ll pay $450 to $800 for the equipment (or more if you add more components), but it’s a one-time fee. If you choose the latter, you’ll pay about $14 per month for the equipment over a 60-month period or up to $35 per month if you choose the shorter 24-month term.

Keep in mind that ADT also requires a monthly fee for professional monitoring. This fee is non-negotiable. ADT needs a professional monitoring subscription to work, and depending on your system’s features, it could cost you $45 to $60 per month. Expensive? Not really. That’s par for the course of most security monitoring services, and it’s a good value considering what ADT offers with those subscriptions.

For starters, ADT has several monitoring stations throughout the country, each fully equipped with generators and backup servers. They’re very resilient, and ADT assures its customers that help is available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Additionally, ADT uses the latest in tech to provide reliable monitoring. There’s the SMART Monitoring feature, for example, which is a text-based communication system aimed at reducing false alarm dispatch. (Did you know that you can get a false alarm penalty if police are dispatched to your house on a false alarm? SMART Monitoring prevents that from happening.)

With the higher-tier plans Smart Home and Video, ADT customers get the added benefits of remote arming and disarming, smartphone notification alerts, and home automation. With the highest plan, Video and Smart Home, users also receive access to security camera live streaming and cloud storage.

While some alternatives to ADT, like abode security, offer home security with no monthly fees, you will have to sign up for a long-term contract with ADT (three years, to be exact, or two years in the state of California). Of course, if you don’t mind being in it for the long haul with ADT, this means that you’ll keep the same rate. In contrast, companies with monthly contracts often increase their rates as time goes by. This has happened recently to SimpliSafe’s plans and Cove’s plans. Their starting monthly rates for professional monitoring both jumped to $17.99 per month from $14.99.

ADT Pricing vs The Competition

When it comes to monthly fees, ADT is a bit on the higher end, but consider what you’re getting: ADT is a well-established company. It has a reliable monitoring network, not to mention loads of redundancy. ADT has nine monitoring centers in the United States, all of which are identical to each other. If one goes down, the others can take over, ensuring no down time. And as it is, each monitoring center doesn’t go down easily, with all the backup generators, servers, and communication networks they have.

Of course, if you’re looking for ways to keep costs down, make sure to check out all the ADT deals. ADT’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals in the past have included $100 prepaid gift cards and free system installation, which usually costs about $100.

Smart Home

Like we said before, ADT works with Alexa2, the popular voice assistant from Amazon. You can have Alexa arm or disarm your system as well as control smart lights, locks, and thermostats. For those of us who’ve ever wished we could turn the downstairs lights off without getting out of bed, this is a godsend.

ADT works just as well with Google Assistant — Google’s version of Alexa — so you can use “Hey, Google” to arm your system. In fact, ADT sells Google Nest equipment, including the Nest Cam (battery), Google Nest Doorbell (battery), and Nest Hub Max. Additionally, ADT built an app for its ADT Self Setup system, the ADT+ app, that has native support for Google Nest products.

Unfortunately, ADT doesn’t work with Siri, so it may not be the best choice for users already in the Apple smart home ecosystem. If that’s you, check out our list of best security systems for Apple.

Aside from Alexa, the ADT security system also works with home automation devices from Kwikset, Liftmaster, Sonos, and anything with Z-Wave connectivity. Here are just a few of ADT’s add-on equipment options:

• Smart light bulbs: ADT’s smart light bulbs let you control their lights remotely and even dim them via either the app or a voice command. You can create custom scenes, groups of lights set to specific brightness levels that can be turned on and off together. In addition, you can set up schedules so that the lights turn on and off at specific times. There’s even an away mode that mimics the typical light patterns you use when you’re home. Using this mode can make it seem like you’re home, even when you’re not.
• Smart thermostats: One way to reduce heating and cooling costs is to use a smart thermostat that can be set onto schedules. ADT’s version lets you control your home’s climate from anywhere and set schedules to save on energy. We liked that the system alerted us if the house got over 75 degrees. We loved making scenes connecting the thermostat to the lights. For example, we had our lights turn off as soon as the thermostat was set to 60 degrees since that’s the temperature we use when we aren’t home. Combining these two IoT devices made our lives more convenient and saved us money on bills, a win-win! ADT’s smart thermostat works with most HVAC systems as well as heat pumps, but you can find out from your expert installer if your system or heat pumps are compatible.
• Garage door gadgets: Next, ADT offers a garage door opener that sends you an alert if you leave the door open. Then, you can use the handy built-in controls to close it. This device connects to the ADT app so you can control the door remotely and receive notifications about its activity.
• Smart plugs: Finally, ADT offers one of our favorite smart home devices, smart plugs. Smart plugs can turn off lights along with small appliances remotely. We found it easy to set up the plugs with our non-IoT devices turning them into smart devices. We were able to use the plugs to dim lights, even on lamps that lacked dimmer switches. These plugs are useful for everything from lighting to coffee makers to flat irons. Users can also set their plugs on schedules and connect them with Alexa allowing for voice commands.

In fact, ADT offers many of these Internet of Things products, like smart locks and smart plugs, on its website.

Although ADT is the oldest security company in the United States, they can compete with the best of them in terms of smart home integrations. And that’s great news, as smart home technology is only becoming more and more popular.

Overall Value

It’s no secret how ADT has remained in business for so long. With reliable 24/7 monitoring, quality devices, and professional installation through Dish, we felt confident our home was protected at all times with ADT. Although ADT isn’t the most affordable home security system around, given how long the company has been in business, it’s trustworthy, definitely. That’s true particularly when it comes to 24/7 professional monitoring and cellular backup. That being said, ADT has made a ton of changes throughout the years, modernizing to include integration with Alexa and Google as well as easy-to-use apps for remote control. So while there are definitely cheaper options available, ADT still offers its customers a ton of value.