The best home security system we tested
Best home security system: Ring Alarm Pro
Besides making you eligible for a break on insurance rates, the peace of mind that comes with easily monitoring activity in your home can’t be understated. Thankfully, those looking for this kind of protection aren’t limited strictly to professionally installed systems.
Today, companies like Ring and ADT offer a bevy of video doorbells and DIY home security system options, so you can lower your costs and add customization to your security setup without sacrificing quality monitoring.
A DIY system is great for renters, those who want the full make-it-your-own experience or anyone looking to incorporate smart home gadgets into their overall system since DIY systems generally play better with the popular smart home ecosystems. On the other hand, professional systems provide a more traditional experience and take care of everything for you — including having technicians take care of any troubleshooting down the line — though that all comes with a heftier price attached.
Focusing on DIY options, we spent several months testing four of the most well-known and -reviewed options and compared them against a professionally installed system from Vivint as a control regarding monitoring and overall setup. We accounted for ease of installation, feature sets and, of course, value. In the end, we settled on one DIY bundle as the clear winner of the best home security system.
Ring Alarm Pro wasn’t just the most seamless to set up and customize with a range of add-ons, but it offers features that other systems can’t match.
Best home security system: Ring Alarm Pro
Combining a painless, customizable installation with a wide-ranging feature set, the Ring Alarm Pro is unbeatable at a starting price of $300, with the option to add 24/7 monitoring (which can alert authorities when needed).
Setup for the Ring Alarm Pro was the quickest of all the alarm systems we tested, clocking in at under an hour to complete the install. After plugging in the brain of the system, the Base Station, and following a few guided steps from the app, you’re off to the races with installing sensors.
The Pro goes further than the standard Ring Alarm by becoming your router and the main mesh point if you’re using an Eero system. It has all the internet tech needed to provide strong speeds.
It can also keep the internet going if your power or wired connection goes out. As part of the $20-per-month Pro Protect Plan, you’ll get 3GB of data that can keep all your connected devices online. Ring also sells additional GBs for $3 each. And we’d implore that you customize which devices can tap into this cellular connection via the Eero app — where you’ll manage the router portion of the Ring Alarm Pro — so that you don’t run up a high bill.
If you use Ring cameras or doorbells as well, you can stop uploading footage to your cloud storage and save recordings locally onto an SD card. Ring also takes this a step further by processing the videos on-device, which is a nice privacy-centric feature and didn’t result in slower notifications in our testing.
We appreciated the customizability of the sensors, such as the ability to choose whether they’re factored in during an alarm mode or should be bypassed. When we had a window AC installed, for instance, we could easily choose to bypass that sensor for that window. While many systems support this level of customization, Ring Alarm’s options are easier to find and enact — it’s not only front and center when you open a sensor in the app, but there are also guides to walk you through setup. Ring’s contact sensors quickly updated us when a door was opened, shut or left open. We were on the hunt for false reads, such as a sensor believing the door was open when it wasn’t, but found none.
The motion detectors work well, though some of the system’s customizations aren’t so flawless. While Ring goes a step further than competitors by giving specific dog settings within the smartphone app — in which you can choose how high or wide the sensors will seek out motion — we did have some trouble perfecting these. With it set to small dogs, we had no issues with a miniature poodle wandering about. Larger dogs, though, set the sensors off from time to time. So you may have to play around with the settings to get it to work to your needs, or only set up the sensor in spots not frequented by your pooch.
Ring makes it easy to fit the system to your space — and needs. You can start with a prebuilt bundle — like an eight-piece kit for $300 — or get the Pro Base Station for $250 and pick the exact number of sensors you need. Ring sells contact sensors for $20 each, while additional motion detectors cost $30. Those with run-of-the-mill smoke detectors or carbon monoxide alarms can pair them to a listening device that can connect with your security system to get alerts through Ring Alarm. Those who just want to upgrade to a Pro Base Station for the internet backup or local footage can easily move their existing system over.
Ring Alarm can also connect to a host of other Ring and third-party devices, including door smart locks, garage door openers, household sensors and thermostats, all of which can in turn be controlled through the Ring app and pair quickly and seamlessly through the Base Station.
For $20 per month, Ring offers 24/7 monitoring, which includes instant check-in when alarms are activated and emergency dispatch should you require it. That’s at the cheaper end of the spectrum and includes the internet backup functionality. Other options often require the service to use other features. Simplisafe, for instance, charges $30 per month for professional monitoring in its Fast Protect (formerly Interactive Monitoring) plan.
Ring’s monitoring is on point: In our testing, the average call response time was within 26 to 30 seconds of the Alarm being activated without entering the disarm code. We tested that by letting the alarm go off without entering the code and seeing how quickly Ring would call us. We never let it reach the point where the authorities were dispatched (and we do not recommend attempting this test). Ring’s response time was in line with the upper end of monitoring experiences of our test group.
Overall, Ring Alarm Pro shines as an excellent DIY system with lots of customization options that also doubles as a router. If you don’t need the router component or local storage for videos, the standard Ring Alarm is available starting at $200.
How we tested
Installation
- Ease of set up: Were the instructions clear? Were all needed parts included?
- Connectivity: How easy was it to get the main hub and all the sensors online?
Security capabilities
- Customizations: We paid close attention to the different monitoring modes and the adjustments a user could make around them.
- Response times: With monitoring, we put claims of response time to the test by triggering calls from the monitoring centers (but never dispatching local or state authorities).
- Sensor detection: When it came to individual sensors, we attempted to trip contact and motion sensors to see how quickly status updates would register.
- Functionality: We looked at what could be connected within other smart home ecosystems and how easy it was to enable that functionality.
Build
- Customizations: We noted the different monitoring modes and the adjustments a user could make around them.
How we rated
Systems were scored using the categories and subcategories below.
- Functionality and security had a maximum of 60 points: modes (20 points), monitoring (20 points), applications and smart home (20 points).
- Installation had a maximum of 25 points: overall (25 points).
- Design had a maximum of 15 points: build quality (10 points) and look or feel (5 points).
- Warranty had a maximum of 10 points: overall (10 points).
Other home security systems we tested
The Abode Smart Security Kit delivers a lot of capabilities in a minimal package. In our testing, this kit performed well but was more complicated to set up than the Ring Alarm, and it focuses on the smart home rather than just security.
With this kit, you get the equivalent of a base station, a single motion sensor, a key fob and a door sensor. It’s not a lot to get started with, but for a single apartment, it could be a solid foundation. It does focus more on the smart home than strictly security. If that’s a core focus of yours, know that Abode works with all the big ecosystems — like Amazon, Google and Apple — while also providing support for several accessories, like Ring. Abode also features ZWave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
And since you’ll likely need more than what the main kit offers, Abode sells a number of sensors directly, making it easy to build out the system for what you need. You get a lot of customization and can see the cost upfront for all of the sensors, versus a professional system that might have you lease the hardware.
One of the biggest appeals of Blue by ADT is the giant name brand associated with it (ADT) and the fact that its a no-contract DIY offering.
Editor’s Note: Blue by ADT is currently being phased out but will continue to operate for existing users. This includes professional monitoring via ADT and dedicated customer service. While Blue By ADT products are still available, they will no longer marketed by ADT and can only be purchased via the ADT app or Blue by ADT web portal. Taking Blue by ADT’s place is a brand-new DIY home security system that’s available now on ADT’s site.
The most unique element of this system is more function in the main hub. It’s a gray rectangular box with a keypad built into the top. It also contains a siren and all the connectivity you could need. With the $195 base plan, you get one hub and one contact sensor. ADT offers the standard sensors: contact sensors, motion detectors, flood sensors, cameras, doorbells, range extenders and the classic ADT shield for your windows. For $210, you’ll get the hub, two contact sensors and a Google Nest Doorbell.
ADT’s 24/7 Monitoring starts at the comparatively higher cost of $25 a month. The connected app leaves a bit to be desired, and there aren’t many options for smart home connections.
If you look past the hefty price, SimpliSafe is a great DIY product. It gives you plenty of options to pick from with several premade kits and various accessories to add to make your system fit your needs.
Setting up the SimpliSafe system was simple and getting sensors online didn’t take all that long. We found the app clunky compared to Ring as you need to dig around for some settings. SimpliSafe also plays nice with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
It is a bit expensive, though. At a minimum, you’re looking at the cost of hardware and if you want monitoring, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee of at least $10 a month. Full monitoring will cost you even more at $30 a month.
But if you’re willing to spend, you can get every sensor your home might need. These include smoke and CO2 detectors that integrate directly with the system, as well as full 24/7 monitoring so you can rest assured your home will be protected around the clock.