Companies with professional installation also tend to offer packages that roll security and smart home capabilities or security and camera systems into one affordable bundle. DIY systems are typically bought online, and you get to choose the equipment type and numbers. Professional systems typically have to be bought through phone calls, and the company may want to do a consultation before giving you a quote. This will typically take a lot of time, and so will the installation. And, since you’ll need to be home while the consultant is there, you’ll need to clear time on your schedule. The consultation and installation can be intrusive, too, so if you don’t like strangers in your home, take that into account. You’ll also likely lose a lot of control as the consultant will likely take the lead in determining how many security cameras, motion sensors, door sensors, window sensors, smart locks, smoke detectors, and other devices you need. With a professional security solution, your cost in equipment and monitoring are almost guaranteed to be higher than if you bought a DIY security system. But you’ll automatically get professional monitoring, which is a plus you usually have to pay extra for with DIY alarms. Plus most of the best-reputed security systems are professionally installed, so the higher fees may be buying the power of a well-known brand behind you. The indoor camera, for instance, has a built-in video call function that allows users to call one number (presumably yours, unless you want it set up some other way). At your behest, the video doorbell camera will deter potential package thieves with a sharp sound. And Vivint even offers Car Guard, a feature that will allow you to know where your car is and whether it’s involved in a collision. But Vivint is fairly expensive, especially if you have cameras. If you want local video storage, you have to shell out a couple hundred bucks for the Vivint Smart Drive. Plus, for every camera you add after the first one, you’re paying an extra $5 a month on top of the Smart Home Video plan. When you add it all up, it can cost even more than ADT’s highest-tier plan, and ADT is far from inexpensive. Basically, you’ll get some cutting-edge equipment and smart home features from Vivint. It won’t be cheap, though. We recently tested out a Vivint system for ourselves, and the installer, while not perfect, was much better than what we’d expect from past Vivint reviews. That’s an encouraging sign for Vivint’s current and future progress. If you’ve only heard of one security brand, it’s probably ADT. The ADT blue octagon is to home security what a red octagon is to traffic: a warning. Anyone looking for some wrongdoing is sure to think twice about breaking and entering when they see ADT’s symbol. We also like the 24/7 video recording and the Alexa and Google compatibility. ADT’s reputation dwarves them all. In contrast, ADT’s biggest drawback is the cost—one of the highest in the industry. ADT still offers a (very affordable) landline plan, which is excellent for rural areas and self-proclaimed Luddites. However, once you get past the landline plans, there are the cell plans. And those add up. You’ll want to get the Video or Complete plans for access to the cellular app, video recording, or home automation. In conclusion, ADT will work hard for you with its longstanding brand. Just know that your compensation to the company is definitely going to reflect that. SimpliSafe offers a ton of equipment combination packages, and it typically has a sale where you’ll get a free $99 SimpliCam with your purchase. And the innovative, proprietary equipment is more Vivint than ADT. That makes SimpliSafe an incredible value, equipment-wise. SimpliSafe also offers reasonable monitoring prices: $15 for the Standard plan and $25 for Interactive. Compared to most professionally installed system prices, that’s quite the steal, especially when you consider that there are no contracts. What are the downsides? Like some of the other systems in this piece, you have to pay to truly use the SimpliSafe app. Even the Standard professional monitoring plan won’t get you much of anything; you have to pay the highest price possible if you want push notifications or to integrate with most smart home devices. Compared to other professionally installed systems, SimpliSafe’s highest price is low, low, low, but it’s still frustrating that the $15 option isn’t useful for most people. If you live in an area with reasonable Xfinity pricing, and if you already use Xfinity services (such as internet or phone), then you may be pleased as punch with Xfinity Home services. For starters, if you live in the right area, Xfinity Home will cost less than most Vivint and ADT plans. And the system has built-in voice control, which you don’t typically see. You just have to get an Xfinity X1 DVR through Xfinity/Comcast cable to use the feature. Also, the system has Zigbee compatibility, which is getting rarer as manufacturers opt for Alexa or Google integration over Z-Wave and Zigbee. With Zigbee, you can connect to Philips Hue and Kwikset smart devices, among others. And, even though we like the Zigbee compatibility, we’re still raising our eyebrows at the lack of Alexa or Google integration. The lack of standard smart speaker integration cuts out a lot of possibilities for your smart home as a whole. Finally, the customer service. We know not everyone has a terrible time with Comcast, but people still find them extremely frustrating. Many Xfinity Home (and other Xfinity service) users have made it clear that the customer service is not up to snuff, at least by their standards. We see this happen a lot with big companies. For instance, ADT and Vivint tend to have a lot more complaints than smaller companies as they serve a larger number of customers and have more room for error. Still . . . for being a smaller home service, Xfinity Home gets an alarmingly large number of complaints. We can’t discount that, even though we like things about this offering. In short, if you’re an existing or hopeful Xfinity customer, Xfinity Home could be an excellent deal. You just need to know that you may not get the transparency, automation, or customer service of your dreams. To decide which professionally installed security systems are best, we give them independent star ratings the first time we review them. Those ratings carry over into other reviews, but they don’t dictate the recommendation order for every list. For instance, although SimpliSafe has a higher overall star rating than Vivint or ADT, it’s not our first recommendation for people looking for a traditional, professionally installed system. To us, it often seems like people who love DIY installations are very different from those who choose professional installations, and never the twain do meet. But, if you aren’t dead set on a professionally installed system, we recommend checking out our best DIY systems. Brands like SimpliSafe and Ring Alarm offer some surprising benefits you may not see with the big-box labels. If you feel your rental property’s security needs beefing up, you could try a DIY system. You could also ask your landlord about installing their own system at their own expense. If you need more info, check out this piece about home security for renters. That means that you’ll need to clear your scheduled block on your calendar plus some extra time for the actual installation. (The installation length will vary by provider, package, home, and even installer.) Of course, a DIY installation can take just as long or longer, so it’s up to you how heavily you want to weigh this information.
