The Best Professionally Installed Security Systems

1. ADT - Best Security System Overall

Editors Rating:

9.8 /10

855-908-4461

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Whereas SimpliSafe was founded in 2006, ADT was founded in 1874,3 making it the oldest security company in the U.S. While ADT has evolved over the years, one thing remains constant: Professional installation and professional monitoring are part of all its traditional home security packages.

To continue this SimpliSafe vs. ADT comparison, while SimpliSafe outsources its professional installation to a third party, ADT’s installation professionals are all in-house. That gave us even more assurance that the technician set up our system correctly, protecting our home from invasion.

ADT Pulse App

For security systems with apps, ADT comes in at the top of the heap. We used the ADT Pulse app with our security system, which includes a keypad, sensors, a smart lock, and other camera components. Currently, the app has a 4.6 rating from Android users and a 4.8 rating from iPhone users, making it one of the best-rated home security apps around.

In the palms of our hands, we armed and disarmed our system, unlocked and locked our doors, viewed live footage, and received notifications when our sensors and cameras detected motion. Of course, we still had the benefit of professional monitoring in case we missed any app notifications. See? ADT has come a long way since the days of telegraphs.

24/7 Professional Monitoring

Want a professionally monitored home security system? All of ADT’s traditional systems come with 24/7 professional monitoring as well as cellular backup.

All of the plans you can choose from include these features:

• 24/7 professional monitoring
• One keypad
• Three entry sensors for doors and windows
• One motion detector
• One siren
• One backup battery
• One keychain remote
• One yard sign with window stickers

However, to make use of the app and cellular backup, you’ll need to sign up for Premium Protection as we did.

While ADT’s pricing certainly isn’t the cheapest for monitoring nor installation, we suppose that’s the cost of over 140 years of experience. Of course, there are ways to save; you can take advantage of ADT deals and ADT Black Friday deals. If you want to learn more, read our ADT FAQs.

2. Vivint - Best Security System With Free Professional Installation

Editors Rating:

9.4 /10

844-922-0575

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How We Review

They say the best things in life are free. Typically, this adage refers to things like friends and family, but it also includes professional installation with Vivint.

That’s right, Vivint sent a technician to install our new security system for free. This was a relief, as we had just spent a ton on Vivint’s equipment. Vivint’s subscriptions may not be the most affordable, with prices starting at $39.99 a month, but at least we didn’t have to pay for installation or do it ourselves.

Great for Vacation Homes

Need a home security system for your vacation home? Vivint has partnered with Airbnb, allowing hosts to unlock their doors remotely, adjust the thermostats remotely, and protect their homes with window sensors, door sensors, and motion sensors. And if your home isn’t rented for the week, you can control the lighting via Philips Hue smart light bulbs, putting them in away mode to make it seem like someone is home.

Of course, you’ll also need to secure your home while on vacation, so get Vivint installed in all of your homes, on the house (no pun intended).

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.

Our favorite of the three has got to be the outdoor camera, thanks to its red LED and siren. When a would-be thief walked onto our lawn, making his way toward our most recent Amazon packages, the camera recognized the person and set the light off.

In case that wasn’t conspicuous enough, the camera then turned on the 85-decibel siren, about as loud as heavy traffic.4 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 Monitored Security System

Editors Rating:

9.2 /10

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How We Review

While we installed our SimpliSafe system ourselves and consider it to be one of the best DIY home security systems, SimpliSafe also offers professional installation through HelloTech, a third-party service. With HelloTech, prices start at $79 to install the SimpliSafe security system, the smart lock, the outdoor camera, or the video doorbell, which we tested for our SimpliSafe Video Doorbell review. Book an appointment online or over the phone, scheduling it for sometime between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. It’s that easy!

Smart Home Integrations

We signed up for SimpliSafe’s Interactive 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!

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 HelloTech, 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

What is the opposite of ADT? In our opinion, it’s abode, which a former ADT executive founded in 2014. Like SimpliSafe (but unlike ADT), abode outsources its professional installation service to HelloTech. It has monthly contracts rather than three-year contracts, plus a feature we haven’t seen from any other security company: on-demand professional monitoring.

We’ll explain that in a bit, but 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!