The Best Professionally Installed Security Systems

1. ADT - Best Security System Overall

Editors Rating:

9.8 /10

855-908-4461

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How We Review

ADT offers white-glove service through-and-through, and that’s why they are the overall best option for professionally installed security systems. It all starts with a consultation, wherein ADT will help you pick out equipment for your home. After that, ADT’s in-house technician will install the system; but it doesn’t end there. ADT’s installation service and equipment are covered by a six-month money-back guarantee, the longest in the market.

Founded in 18741, ADT has built a strong reputation based on the quality of its equipment and overall service. While it’s not perfect – the monthly monitoring fee can be a tad pricey, for instance – we believe it’s the best choice for many. But before you sign up, read on for a quick overview of ADT’s equipment, features, and monitoring.

ADT Control App

One advantage of professional installation is that you don’t have to do a lot of work to get the system to work as advertised. ADT’s technicians will install and set up the system, including advanced features and integrations. And when it comes to new tech, ADT leads the pack for best security systems with an app.

Once everything is set up, the ADT Control app will let you arm and disarm your security system, give you access to home automation, and connect you to a livestream of your security cameras. You’ll also receive timely notifications, reminders, and alerts from the security system itself. All these advanced features make monitoring your ADT system a lot easier and more convenient.

24/7 Professional Monitoring

ADT’s quality service extends way past the installation. In fact, getting an ADT system installed means receiving top-quality monitoring service.

The professional monitoring service is packaged with ADT systems, and with the service, your security system will tap into ADT’s monitoring network with nine monitoring facilities across the country. They will monitor for any type of alerts coming from your security system, including intrusion, fire, home hazards, and medical emergencies.

As is the norm with professionally monitored security systems, ADT charges a monthly monitoring fee. ADT’s pricing typically sits at around $40 per month, but can go as high as $60 per month depending on the type of equipment you own. If you have security cameras and smart home products, for example, you’ll pay the maximum monthly fee to cover cloud storage and smart features. You’ll also have to sign a contract, usually up to three years.

Nonetheless, ADT’s professional monitoring service is top-notch. It has nine monitoring centers in place to provide redundancy.  They are all fully-equipped with backup measures (generators, backup servers and communication, etc.) and can take over for one another in case one or more centers can’t operate.

If the cost is making you have second-thoughts, however, check out these ADT deals, as they offer ways to offset the equipment cost. Also, ADT offers a six-month money-back guarantee, the longest in the industry, that lets you recuperate monitoring and installation costs if ADT fails to fix any problems with the system.

2. Vivint - Best Security System With Free Professional Installation

Editors Rating:

9.4 /10

844-922-0575

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How We Review

Often regarded as a high-end but quite pricey home security option, Vivint made us breathe a sigh of relief when they billed us $0 for the professional installation. That’s right, Vivint sent us a technician to install our new equipment for free.

That wasn’t some sort of special treatment to get us to give Vivint good ratings. In fact, anyone can get free professional installation – you just have to time your purchase just right.

All Vivint systems require professional installation and a Vivint subscription plan. The installation service typically costs around $199, but Vivint frequently offers special deals, such as waiving the installation fee. You’ll usually find these deals on their website, but if you’re not seeing anything, just call the company and ask.

Is Vivint still worth it without the free installation offer, though? We’d say so. Among the security systems we’ve tested, Vivint had some of the most advanced capabilities. So if you’re looking to set up a smart home security solution, Vivint’s regular installation cost is on the higher end, but it’s worth it.

Top-Quality Equipment and Automation

You’ll understand why Vivint requires professional installation once you see the equipment in person. They look so sophisticated, high-tech, and advanced that even home security experts like ourselves find it challenging to install the system ourselves. Fortunately, Vivint technicians are well-trained to handle Vivint equipment.

The heart of the system is the touchscreen control panel, which makes for a user-friendly experience. All the controls you need are on the tablet-like panel, and it gives you a brief but insightful overview of your security system. It even tells you the weather and other useful information.

The control panel is also the center of Vivint’s home automation system, which is intertwined with the security system. Through the tablet interface, you can control smart lights, thermostats, and other smart home products, set up automation rules and schedules, and create scenes to control multiple devices at once.

Obviously, setting up a system as intricate as Vivint requires expertise, and that’s why it’s a great thing that Vivint requires professional installation.

Quality Cameras and Video Doorbell

Vivint has three cameras to choose from: an outdoor camera, an indoor camera, and a doorbell camera. You can learn more about these products in our Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro review and our Vivint Doorbell Camera review, but here are their specs in a nutshell.

The Outdoor Camera Pro carried the flag for all of Vivint’s cameras. It has the most advanced set of features among them, including artificial intelligence that detects when someone is lurking on your property and warning lights and tones that can ward off potential intruders. Together, these features make the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro a great outdoor sentry for your home.

Here’s what happened when the camera went into alert mode one time when we were testing it: As soon as it detected a lurker, a red ring of light turned on around the camera’s lens. The camera then turned on the 85-decibel siren, about as loud as the sound of heavy traffic.2 Of course, Vivint notified us as soon as the camera detected the person, so we watched the whole thing on the Vivint app. We even said “good riddance” to the thief through the camera’s speaker. According to our package theft research, 4 in 10 Americans have fallen victim, but with Vivint, we didn’t have to become a statistic.

3. SimpliSafe - Best Contract-Free Security System

Editors Rating:

9.2 /10

800-544-5942

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How We Review

Okay, SimpliSafe is a DIY security system. In fact, it’s the best DIY home security system around. So why is it here? Well, we like options, and SimpliSafe gives customers lots of options, including professional installation.

At checkout, you can add professional installation starting at $124.99. The price scales with the number of components you’re looking to get installed. It’s $124.99 for up to 10 pieces, $154.99 for up to 15 pieces, $184.99 for up to 20 pieces, and so on.

That’s not the most affordable price we’ve seen for the service. It’s actually quite expensive considering how easy it is to DIY the process. It took us less than 30 minutes to set up a SimpliSafe system with more than a dozen components, including security cameras.

On the bright side, SimpliSafe has a unique advantage over systems that require professional installation. Because SimpliSafe is originally a DIY system, you can add components without having to pay another installation fee. SimpliSafe products are easy to install — mostly you just stick them to your wall using their adhesive backings — so professional installation likely won’t be necessary if you’re installing just a couple pieces of hardware.

Smart Home Integrations

We signed up for SimpliSafe’s Fast Protect Plan so we could take advantage of its smart home integrations with Alexa, Google Assistant, August smart locks, and Nest thermostats. Using either voice assistant, we could arm the system in home or away mode, and using Alexa, we could also check the system’s current status.

Beyond that, we had our Nest and August IoT devices trigger SimpliSafe components. One clever home automation we dreamed up was having our thermostat turn down when we armed our security system. There’s no reason to waste our central air if no one’s home, after all!

Here are SimpliSafe’s top integration partners and what they add to the SimpliSafe smart system.

Monthly Contracts

SimpliSafe is a security system designed for renters at its origin. Two MBA candidates at Harvard created it when they wanted to install a security system in their apartment but couldn’t find any options with flexible, month-to-month contracts.

We didn’t have to sign up for a long-term contract with SimpliSafe. The security system has no contract beyond a month, and since most of the components are wireless, they didn’t damage our walls. That means we got our security deposit back, which we spent partially on having SimpliSafe installed professionally at our new place.

In fact, out of our entire moving process, getting SimpliSafe up and running was the most straightforward task; all we had to do was go online, book an appointment with OnTech, and call it a day. Learn more about SimpliSafe’s pricing for both installation and monitoring.

4. Alder Security - Best Professionally Installed Security System for Alexa

Editors Rating:

9.0 /10

844-965-1405

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How We Review

If you want a home security system for Alexa, look no further than Alder, a small but mighty professionally installed option. On top of the free professional installation, which was a nice start to our experience, we had fun commanding our Alder system using Alexa through our Echo Dot.

Whether it was arming our system as we rushed out of the house late for an appointment, or having Alexa remind us if we armed our system or not, Alder is a great choice for those already in the Amazon smart home ecosystem. The free professional installation is just icing on the cake.

Free Basic Package

What with the free professional installation, we were surprised that we didn’t have to pay anything upfront for our Basic Home Security package, which included a touchscreen control panel, two entry sensors, and a motion sensor. Rather, the equipment and monitoring cost $40 a month, or $480 a year. This isn’t a bad price, considering the lack of upfront costs, and of course, it includes 24/7 professional monitoring and cellular backup. There are also options with environmental monitoring and cameras, if you’re interested.

Read more about Alder’s costs.

Fast Response Rates

A professionally monitored home security system is only as good as the monitoring team connected to it. If a thief breaks through your windows and activates your window sensor, how soon will the monitoring team get an alert and contact the police?

With Alder, the average response time is only 3.4 seconds, which the company claims is 10 times as fast as its competitors. In 2017 specifically, Alder responded to over 2.3 million alarms. Of course, the company has grown since then, so we expect that number to rise even more this year. While we didn’t have any emergencies while using Alder that allowed us to test this, we’re impressed with the company’s promised response time.

5. abode - Best Professionally Installed Security System for Google Assistant

Editors Rating:

8.0 /10

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How We Review

Much like SimpliSafe, abode offers professional installation through a third-party service provider. In fact, it uses the same provider as SimpliSafe: HelloTech.

Similarly though, the cost scales with the number of pieces of equipment. The installation fee starts at $99 for starter kits, but there’s an additional $25 for every five devices you add to your system. That means the larger the system, the more you’ll pay. It’s all worth it, though, because like Vivint, abode’s smart security systems are sophisticated, so paying for professional installation ensures that everything is set up as it should.

Where abode really shines is its smart platform integrations, specifically with Google Assistant. We had Google show our outdoor camera on our Nest Hub, arm our system, unlock our front door, and more. If you have a ton of smart home devices, like smart locks and smart lights, you’ll love how easily you can integrate abode with your smart home.

Integrations Galore

If you’ve already made your smart home, abode will fit right in. In addition to Google Assistant, it works with Alexa and Siri, making it a rare security system for Apple.

Of course, abode doesn’t stop at voice control. It also works with a ton of third-party IoT devices. Here are just a few:

• Ecobee
• First Alert
• IFTTT
• Kwikset
• LIFX
• Nest
• Philips Hue
• Yale

Want to use your Nest cameras with your abode security system? Nothing’s stopping you. Want your Kwikset smart locks to unlock when you disarm your system via Google Assistant? Feel free.

Abode is also a great security system for IFTTT, which makes thousands more triggers available.

On-Demand Professional Monitoring

Sometimes, you want a self-monitored home security system. Other times, like when you’re away on vacation, you want 24/7 professional monitoring, but you don’t want to sign up for a whole month, let alone a whole year. Enter abode, the only security company we’ve come across that offers professional monitoring on a daily basis.

If you’re willing to pay a little extra in addition to the $99 professional installation cost, you can get professional monitoring from abode for as little as 66 cents a day. Talk about affordable home security!