Best Apartment Security Systems in 2025

1. SimpliSafe - Best Overall

SecurityScore:

9.2 /10

800-544-5942

View Packages Links to SimpliSafe

How We Review

Product Specs

Equipment Costs	Packages starting at $249.96
Monitoring Options	Professional and DIY
Monthly Monitoring Costs	Starts at $21.99 per month
Contract Lengths	Month-to-month
Installation Options	DIY or professional
Smart Platform Integration	Alexa and Google Home

800-544-5942

View Packages Links to SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe Overview

Because SimpliSafe started out providing security systems to renters, you know the company has the apartment security game on lock. While SimpliSafe products are great for large houses and properties, the lack of long-term contracts and easy DIY installation really appeals to renters like us. SimpliSafe also recently started offering a 24/7 monitoring service that elevates the company as a great alternative to ADT. We also think it’s one of the best security systems overall.

While the SimpliSafe monitoring plan we recommend costs more than Cove, abode, and Ring, it includes video monitoring, which those others don’t offer and ADT charges more for. Also, because an apartment-tier system from SimpliSafe doesn’t require major installation, it’s easy to pick up and move when you change apartments. You can also add on extra equipment or change your monitoring plans if you move into a bigger place. In fact, we’ve also rated SimpliSafe as one of the best security systems for large homes. That’s how good SimpliSafe is.

SimpliSafe Contract

How hard is it to cancel a security system contract? It’s a spectrum. On one end, you have Vivint. Good luck trying to cancel that early without incurring some hefty fees. On the other hand, you have Ring Alarm. All you have to do is click a button on the website.

So where does SimpliSafe fall? It’s close to Ring Alarm, but we wouldn’t say it’s easy. We had to find time out of our day to call up and speak to someone to ask about canceling our service. We bought our system and subscription online. Why couldn’t we do the same to cancel? Well, anyway, here’s how we cancelled our SimpliSafe subscription after we finished our month-long test:

How to Cancel a SimpliSafe Contract

1. Call (888) 910-1458.
2. Say your safe word.
3. Prepare to resist sweet deals.

However, there are very few reasons to cancel with SimpliSafe. Even if you move, it’s easy to take the security system with you and set it up in your new place. SimpliSafe even lends a hand. When we called to cancel our subscription, SimpliSafe offered to send us boxes for our devices and fresh adhesives if we were canceling due to a move. And if we needed more equipment to fit a newer, bigger place, we could order more equipment and pair it with our current system.

SimpliSafe Install

Leave the hardwired security systems to the homeowners. Your apartment needs something super simple to install. Something that won’t damage your walls or lose your deposit. That something could be SimpliSafe.

When we tested SimpliSafe, we plugged in the base station, set our PIN, and let the app guide us through the rest.

The most difficult thing we had to do was install the sensors. But every sensor we needed was peel and stick. Peel. Stick. Done. Was it easy? Yes. Did it hold up? Not in the long run. The peel-and-stick tape kept the sensors in place for months, but we don’t trust it to hold up for years. It loses grip over time. Plus, it could leave nasty adhesive marks when removed. We had to pull out the rubbing alcohol to get the adhesive marks off our walls before we moved. Peel-and-stick is great to avoid drilling, but if you don’t anticipate a move in the next few years or so, talk to your landlord about using screws to anchor the sensors.

We did have the option to add on devices that are more complicated. The SimpliSafe smart lock, for example, requires a screwdriver. But depending on your contract with your landlord, you might not be allowed to change out the locks. The same is true for the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell we reviewed, which weirdly, required hardwiring. It was the only hardwired piece of equipment from SimpliSafe.

Both devices fall into the more advanced category of SimpliSafe equipment though. So if all you want is a simple, reliable, and renter-friendly security system, SimpliSafe checks all the boxes.

SimpliSafe Price

SimpliSafe’s cheapest kit – The Foundation – costs about $250. From there, you can add whatever sensors and devices you need. You don’t need to buy anything you don’t want though.

SimpliSafe might seem expensive. When we compared SimpliSafe to ADT, SimpliSafe ended up being a bit less overall. ADT’s starter package costs $349 compared to $250 for SimpliSafe. They both offer $99 wired indoor cameras. While SimpliSafe’s outdoor camera costs $20 more than ADT, their sensors cost less across the board. And even ADT isn’t that expensive compared to a system like Vivint which starts at around $500. So overall, SimpliSafe is affordable compared to industry norms.

On top of that, SimpliSafe is one of the best security systems that don’t require monthly fees. You can save a lot by self-monitoring and cloud storage for up to ten cameras only costs $9.99 per month. We definitely recommend going for the $31.99 Core plan though. It includes cloud storage, plus professional monitoring with Intruder Intervention – live audio and video monitoring for the Smart Alarm indoor camera during emergencies. Plus, the monitoring agent will guide you to safety during an emergency and try to scare off intruders during a home invasion using the camera’s two-way audio feature.

Whichever SimpliSafe package you choose, you can rest assured that you won’t spend more on security than you do on co-op fees.

2. ADT Self Setup - Best Security Cameras

SecurityScore:

9.0 /10

855-908-4461

View Packages Links to ADT Self Setup

How We Review

Product Specs

Equipment Costs	Starting at $195
Monitoring Options	Professional or DIY
Monthly Monitoring Costs	Starting at $24.99
Contract Lengths	Monthly
Installation Options	DIY
Smart Platform Integrations	Google Nest Cams, Google Assistant, Alexa

855-908-4461

View Packages Links to ADT Self Setup

ADT Overview

Traditionally, ADT was known as a professionally installed and monitored security system designed to protect homes, not apartments. But after 150 years of history, it now offers the same systems they professionally install in a DIY package. We had to take extra steps to get our system professionally installed by calling them to set up our professional installation. For a DIY package, all we had to do was check out online.

A DIY system alone isn’t enough to make it on our list of the best apartment security systems though. Along with ADT’s transition to its DIY offerings, they also partnered with Google. As part of that partnership, they now offer Google Nest Cams. When we tested Google Nest Cams, we found their familiar face feature useful for our apartment.

ADT put the familiar face feature to use with its Trusted Neighbor feature. It let us automatically allow specific people into our apartment during specific events or times. For instance, we could set it to let in the maintenance guy when he showed up to our apartment instead of opening the apartment at a specific time like other smart locks can. That ensured it only opened for him instead of a random passerby.

ADT Contract

Just like ADT used to require professional installation and monitoring, they also used to require a long-term contract. Along with their DIY options, they also started offering systems without contracts. We didn’t want to sign a contract just like you probably don’t, but that meant we needed to pay for all of our equipment upfront. Otherwise, we ADT would have made us sign a minimum three-year contract.

Since we didn’t sign a contract, that meant we could cancel our ADT subscription anytime we wanted without incurring a fee. When comparing ADT to SimpliSafe, they’re similar in the way we cancelled our contract. We needed to make time to give ADT a call to cancel our subscription. Here’s how we did it:

How to Cancel ADT

1. Find the details of our contract in our MyADT dashboard under Account Documents and then Contracts.
2. Call 1-800-238-2727 and tell the agent we would like to cancel our subscription.
3. Confirm we own the system by telling them our contract number.
4. Receive cancellation confirmation from the agent.

As a DIY system, we didn’t need to cancel ADT when we moved. We could take it with us for free. But, we needed to take the system down and reinstall it on our own when moving. It wasn’t bad though. Both taking our system down and reinstalling it took us less than an hour.

ADT Install

When ADT first launched its DIY offerings, there were some growing pains. It wasn’t the easiest to install and they offered completely different equipment than their professionally installed system. Let’s just say, we weren’t the biggest fans.

Recently they started offering all the same components in their DIY and professionally installed systems. They also made their components a lot easier to install. Nearly every component is battery-powered so we didn’t even need to plug anything in.

The new ADT+ app did a great job at guiding us through the install process. It helped us hook up our base station and then connect each device to it. Each step of the way, it told us exactly what to do. We liked it so much that ADT took the top spot in our list of the best home security system apps.

If we needed it, we could have also requested a guided installation with live help from an ADT assistant. They’d tell us exactly how to install each component we ordered. Since we’ve installed dozens of security systems, the app provided more than enough guidance for us though. Overall, the install took about 15 minutes.

ADT Price

Like we talked about, ADT’s pricing is a bit higher than SimpliSafe aside from its outdoor camera. And most apartments won’t have much use for an outdoor camera. So, expect to pay more for ADT than you would for SimpliSafe, Cove, abode, or Ring.

With that higher price point, you’re paying for some of the most advanced security cameras on the market and one of the most reliable professional monitoring services. We found the value to still be there despite the higher price. To protect our apartment with an indoor Google Nest Cam, an entry sensor for our door, two entry sensors for our windows since we’re on the first floor, and one motion sensor for our living room/kitchen, we spent under $450.

3. Cove - Best for Affordable Professional Monitoring

SecurityScore:

8.7 /10

View Packages Links to Cove

How We Review

Product Specs

Equipment Costs	Systems start at $99
Monitoring Options	Professional only
Monthly Monitoring Costs	Starting at $19.99 per month
Contract Lengths	Month-to-month
Installation Options	Professional or DIY
Smart Platform Integration	Alexa and Google Home

View Packages Links to Cove

Cove Overview

Cove launched its affordable, top-rated DIY home security system in 2018. But SimpliSafe and Ring Alarm are also affordable DIY systems. What does Cove have that the other guys don’t?

For starters, the cheapest professional monitoring in the game, only tied by Ring. If you live in a rough apartment complex and you need extra security, that $19.99 monthly Cove subscription could be money well spent.

When we tested Cove, we found more to like than cheap monitoring. The sensors were extra small, so they didn’t stick out on the door. Battery life was extra long, which gave us peace of mind. And everything worked seamlessly with our Google gear. (Cove is one of the best home security systems for Google Home users.)

Cove Contract

You can cancel your Cove contract anytime as long as that time is at least 30 days before your next billing date. This is not ideal when your lease is up in two weeks and you realize you forgot to cancel your security subscription. We know because it happened to us. At least we didn’t have to pay a cancellation fee and given Cove’s low monitoring fees, that extra month only cost us $20.

That said, we had to make an actual phone call to cancel our Cove service, as with SimpliSafe. Come on, Cove, it’s 2024. Still, compared to a traditional provider like Alder, Cove makes cancellation a walk in the park.

How to Cancel Cove

1. Call (855) 268-3669 at least 30 days before your next billing date.
2. Request the cancellation of your monitoring service.
3. Confirm your monitoring service has been cancelled with Cove’s support agent.

You might not have to cancel Cove though. It’s as easy to uninstall as it is easy to install. You can take it with you and resume your monitoring plan at your new address, provided you’re just crossing city or state lines; not country. Just make sure you give Cove a call to update your billing and monitoring address. That way, they have your new location in case they need to send the cops to your house in an emergency.

Cove Install

Cove is yet another security system that claims to be easy-install. But is it? The short answer is yes. It took our team 25 minutes to install every component. We devoted a full day to testing, but that’s just because we like to be thorough.

If you don’t want security technicians (aka strangers) entering your apartment building, don’t fret. This is definitely a system you can DIY.

The sensors have adhesive backing. The base station is free standing. And the cameras? You can either mount them or set them on a flat surface, like a bookshelf or something. That all means none of Cove’s equipment is permanently installed, so we could take Cove with us when we moved.

One key distinction between SimpliSafe and Cove is the size and weight of equipment. Cove sensors were on the smaller side next to SimpliSafe, so they are more suited for peel-and-stick tape installation. That’s why we trusted the peel-and-stick adhesive to last longer than our SimpliSafe ones.

We should also mention that Cove comes with a touchscreen controller, something we’ve been longing to see from SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe offers a bulky, remote-like keypad designed for wall-mounting only. Same goes for ADT, although their keypad is more discreet than SimpliSafe’s. With Cove, you’ll get a tablet-like keypad you can attach to the wall or put on the nightstand next to your bed. It also has battery backup, so you can take it with you anywhere in the house.

Cove Price

One of our pet peeves is when a security company hides its true pricing behind perpetually-in-place discounts. (Looking at you, Frontpoint!) Cove is also guilty of this.

If you add a Cove hub, panel, and contact sensor to your shopping cart, you’ll see what we mean. Supposedly, the full price is $315. As of publication, a discount brings it down to $94.50. It seems like must-buy savings — until you realize we’ve been seeing that same sale for the past year.

Don’t let our grumbling stop you from picking up Cove equipment. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether the discount is totally honest or not; it’s uber-affordable either way. We bought our Cove set for less than it took to fill our apartment with Ikea furniture.

There is one more thing you should consider before you hit “buy.” Cove requires a subscription.

Annoying? Yes. Affordable? Also yes. A price of $20 for professional monitoring is comparable to Ring Alarm monitoring, although we must say that Ring offers more features for the same price. That $20 monitoring plan from Ring, for example, already includes cloud video storage for unlimited cameras.

If you are in the market for professional monitoring anyway, you should consider giving Cove a try. Who knows? Maybe they’ll catch a nosy roommate sneaking into your bedroom while you’re at work.

4. abode - Best for Smart Apartments

SecurityScore:

8.0 /10

View Packages Links to abode

How We Review

Product Specs

Equipment Costs	Packages starting at $159.99
Monitoring Options	Professional and DIY
Monitoring Costs	Starting at $169 per year for the first year ($14.08 per month)
Contract Lengths	Month-to-month or Yearly
Installation Options	DIY or professional
Smart Platform Integration	Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit

View Packages Links to abode

abode Overview

Have you decked out your apartment with smart home products? You should consider abode. It has all the plug-and-play ease of SimpliSafe with the supercharged home automation of Vivint.

Even though we’re not home automation geeks, the possibilities of abode’s CUE system turned us into one. That’s because it let us improve our apartment’s security. When we tested abode, we set a rule that if the front door opened between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., the living room lights would turn on and the Alexa speaker would blast a siren. Take that, intruders.

One word of caution, though: abode is affordable as a security system, but adding smart home gadgets drives up the equipment cost. It’s cheaper than Vivint as a smart home system, but a system that supports CUE outprices SimpliSafe and Cove.

abode Contract

abode doesn’t force you to speak to a human (yuck!) to cancel its monitoring plan. Just open the app and tap unsubscribe.

Compare abode and SimpliSafe, which requires you to call its customer service line. abode makes it much easier to opt out of monitoring. When you have to move out because your landlord decided to sell your apartment building, you’ll be glad you went with abode.

How to Cancel abode

1. Open the abode app.
2. Tap Plan Details.
3. Tap Unsubscribe.

When it comes to moving, you’re also free to take abode with you. Just know that it won’t send you a free moving kit like SimpliSafe would.

abode Install

If you live in an apartment, you’re more likely to call maintenance than break out the power tools. Don’t worry. Even the least confident DIYers can install abode.

It took us a grand total of 20 minutes to install our abode security system. For context, it took us about 30 minutes to install SimpliSafe.

How did we manage to set it up so quickly? You guessed it: peel and stick sensors. Installing our abode kit was almost as easy as placing stickers in a scrapbook.

It would be a different story if we’d gone with abode’s recessed door sensors. They require drilling. We might have needed some professional help and permission from our landlord.

abode Price

You don’t need to pay thousands of dollars for dozens of sensors for your studio apartment. You can save money and protect your place for less than $200.

The simplest, cheapest abode kit is only $159.99. That’s the lowest price on the list. It’s also as basic as it gets: one contact sensor, one key fob, and a security hub. For context, the Ring Alarm starter kit costs $244.95, but it comes with four entry sensors and a motion detector. Those extra components would bring abode’s package up to about $260. For basic apartment security, one entry sensor might be enough though.

That’s the equipment. What about the features? With abode, you can stream security camera footage, integrate smart home products, and receive push notifications. That’s not so unusual. What is unusual is the price: free 99. In other words, you don’t need a subscription to use abode.

If you do decide you want a subscription, you have two plan options: Standard and Pro. Both are pretty good deals.

We should mention that abode’s biggest selling point is CUE, the home automation program the system uses to smarten up homes. We used it to create schedules, set up automation rules, and program smart scenes. But what we appreciated most was the ability to connect smart home devices without a subscription. Both SimpliSafe and Ring made us pay for that functionality.

5. Ring Alarm - Best for Alexa Users

SecurityScore:

7.7 /10

View on Amazon Links to Ring Alarm

How We Review

Product Specs

Equipment Costs	Packages starting at $199.98
Monitoring Options	Professional and DIY
Monthly Monitoring Costs	$10 with the purchase of a Ring Home plan
Contract Lengths	1-12 months
Installation Options	DIY or professional
Smart Platform Integration	Alexa and Google Home

View on Amazon Links to Ring Alarm

Ring Alarm Overview

If you live in an apartment complex, there’s a chance that your neighbors already have Ring. We know ours do. It’s that ubiquitous. And it’s that good.

When we tested the Ring Alarm system, we were actually pretty impressed. The cameras recorded clear footage. The sensors detected people and ignored cats. And the Ring – Always Home app kept us informed about every little event.

Even better? It’s affordable. For less than $250 up front and as low as $19.99 per month, you get a functional, professionally monitored security system. That’s hard to beat.

Ring Alarm Contract

Maybe someday, you’ll want to upgrade your apartment to a home and your Ring Alarm to ADT. (Hey, it could happen.)

If that day comes, Ring Alarm will be easy to cancel. All we had to do to cancel our Ring Alarm subscription was click, well, cancel.

How to Cancel Ring Protect Pro

1. Log in to Ring.com.
2. Select Protect Plan.
3. Click Cancel Plan.
4. Select now or at end of billing cycle.
5. Confirm.

Ring Alarm Install

The basic Ring Alarm package is dead simple to install. It took us under half an hour to get the five-piece package up and running.

That’s even more impressive because we ran into some technical difficulties. Our base station wouldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi network at first. Obviously, it would be better if the process was bug-free. But the fact that we handled this snag and installed everything else in less than 30 minutes is telling of Ring’s user-friendliness.

The “everything else” came together so quickly thanks to Ring’s peel-and-stick sensors. All we had to do was remove the pull tabs from the battery slots, peel off the protective film, and affix the sensors on our doors, windows, and walls.

The Ring store does sell some more complicated equipment. You wouldn’t want to try installing a high-tech pipe sensor on your own, for example.

If you do choose to add on some advanced tech, you might want to fork over the for professional installation.

Ring Alarm Price

At $179.99, the Ring Connected Basic Kit is one of the most affordable video security systems in the business. It’s not a Ring Alarm security system though. For Ring Alarm with a base station and professional monitoring, you’ll need at least the Alarm Security Kit which costs $244.95.

Does that mean Ring is cheap? Not necessarily. You could go all out on Ring.com buying up the place. The most expensive piece of equipment we’ve found on the site is nearly $800.

If you’re renting a room in an apartment to save money, you probably don’t want a luxury water monitor. Skip the extras and stick with the basic kit.

Ring Alarm will function without any extra purchases. You can view live security footage from the app, free of charge. But if you do decide to subscribe, Ring’s plans range from affordable to luxe. And take note that none of these actually include professional monitoring for Ring Alarm. That’s an additional $10 per month on top of either the Standard or Premium subscription, but either way, those prices are affordable or at the very least comparable with other affordable options. We went with the Standard plan with professional monitoring.

Ring Home plans range from $4.99 to $19.99 per month. Where is the luxe plan, you may ask? That would be the Virtual Security Guard, which rings up for an additional $99 per month. Think of this feature like supercharged professional monitoring. Your virtual guard can respond to security events in real-time by actively monitoring your video feed and deterring intruders with two-way audio and flashing lights on outdoor cameras. Virtual security guards will also proactively contact first responders in an emergency. We found this to be overkill for our apartment at $99 per month.

Sound familiar? That’s because SimpliSafe offers a similar feature for a fraction of the price. If you love the idea of a virtual guard but you’re on a tight budget, you might want to go with SimpliSafe.

>> Read More: Ring Alarm vs. SimpliSafe