SimpliSafe vs ADT

If you’re talking about home security, it’s hard not to mention ADT and SimpliSafe. While ADT is the oldest security company in the U.S with over 150 years in business, SimpliSafe is the hot new kid on the block, founded in 2006 by two Harvard Business School students who wanted a security system for renters. Today, I’m comparing ADT’s Video Package with the SimpliSafe system, and I’m excited to see how the new stacks up with the old. Will ADT continue its reign on the home security market, or is SimpliSafe just innovative enough to disrupt the industry?

In this review, I’ll go over the two systems’ key similarities, key differences, installation, professional monitoring, customer support, and apps. By the end of this review, you’ll be able to see whether ADT or SimpliSafe is the best system for your home and family, or my name isn’t Gabe from Security.org. Let’s get started!

Key Similarities

First of all, I want to make sure you’re looking at the right review comparison, so let’s talk about what ADT and SimpliSafe have in common.

• High-quality equipment: Both SimpliSafe and ADT offer high quality security equipment for a variety of applications. Entryway, motion, and environmental sensors? Check. Indoor and outdoor video cameras? You bet.
• Installation options: While ADT is a more traditional system, meaning that most folks will have it professionally installed, they do have a DIY option — you can read more about that in my review of ADT’s Self Setup. And while SimpliSafe is mostly thought of as a DIY system, they do offer professional installation for folks that aren’t that handy. Keep in mind, though, it starts at $125.
• Professional monitoring: Both ADT and SimpliSafe offer exceptional professional monitoring, though they take a slightly different tact. I’ll get into that more below.

Key Differences

Now for the differences, which will probably have a huge effect on your buying decision.

• Customer support: While SimpliSafe has decent customer support ratings, ADT’s are relatively negative.
• Contracts: SimpliSafe lets you sign up for any of their plans and buy any of their equipment without signing any contracts aside from a month-to-month plan. ADT does not require a contract if you pay for your equipment upfront, but financing your equipment — which can extend up to 60 months — will require a contract for the financing term.
• Monitoring options: ADT offers professional monitoring plans based on your equipment and features, with pricing determined after a consultation. SimpliSafe offers six options, including the option to self-monitor.

Now that you’ve got a basic overview, let’s actually bust open these boxes.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe System Components

Both the ADT Video Package we tested and the SimpliSafe system include base stations, keypads, motion, entry, and glass break sensors, keyring remotes (known as key fobs in the world of SimpliSafe), and indoor cameras. ADT also throws in a smart lock and an additional alarm, while SimpliSafe provides you with a base station, a panic button, and an auxiliary siren. Now that we’ve seen what’s inside the boxes, we can actually install our systems.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe Installation

Like I said above, ADT is primarily a professionally installed system, but it does offer a DIY option. SimpliSafe is the inverse of that — primarily DIY with the option to professionally install. For our purposes here, though, let’s talk about their strongest installation offerings — professional for ADT, DIY for SimpliSafe.

Installing ADT

ADT Pro Install sends a certified technician to handle every aspect of your setup — no tools, no YouTube tutorials, no guesswork on your end. Before our technician arrived, the equipment came pre-programmed so everything was ready to pair. The technician did a full walkthrough of my home first, asking about entry points, pets, and daily routines before placing a single device. From there, they decided where to place every sensor, camera, and device.

The full installation took just under two hours for my four-camera, five-sensor setup. Before leaving, the technician walked me through the ADT+ app, showed me how to review footage, set up activity zones, and created a sample automation. I had to pay for the service, but it was well worth it given the white-glove service I received.

>> Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Home Security Cameras

Installing SimpliSafe

What immediately stood out about installing SimpliSafe was how little was asked of me. No tools, no drilling, no scheduling an appointment. The majority of the sensors use a strong adhesive backing that held firmly throughout my entire testing period without any slipping. That said, if you’re planning to keep the system in the same home for more than a few years, I recommend using the included mounting screws instead. The adhesive is renter-friendly, but the hardware gives you a more permanent and reliable hold.

Once the sensors were placed — about 15 minutes for my five-sensor setup — I plugged in the base station, opened the SimpliSafe app, and let it walk me through pairing each device automatically. Setting up the indoor camera took an extra five minutes, and the outdoor camera needed an overnight charge before mounting. My full setup — base station, keypad, five sensors, and two cameras — came in just under 45 minutes across two sessions

Top System Installation

This one comes down entirely to what kind of installation experience you want. If you’d rather hand everything off to a professional who knows exactly where to place each device for maximum coverage, ADT Pro Install is the clear choice. If you’d rather do it yourself on your own schedule without paying an installation fee, SimpliSafe is about as painless as DIY gets. Neither approach is wrong, and neither system suffers for it, so let your preference for hands-on versus hands-off guide the decision here.

>> Learn More: The SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera

Professional Monitoring

What exactly does professional monitoring mean? Well, it means that in addition to monitoring your system on your app, you’ll have a team of people monitoring your home’s security 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They’ll be alerted the second any of your alarms go off, and can check in with you and your home to verify an emergency. If need be, they can even contact emergency services for you, whether that’s the fire department, the police, or your local hospital. Whatever the situation is, it’s professional monitoring that will make sure it gets dealt with, and fast!

ADT vs. SimpliSafe Monitoring Options

Both ADT and SimpliSafe take professional monitoring seriously, but they go about it very differently.

ADT Pro Install requires professional monitoring for all systems, with no self-monitoring option available. Monitoring starts at $49.99 per month, but the final price will be determined by your equipment and features. That price includes ADT’s full monitoring infrastructure: six redundant centers across North America, SMART Monitoring text alerts that reach your whole household, and video verification to let monitoring agents confirm threats before dispatch. A Google Home Premium subscription is also included, unlocking facial recognition on Nest Cams.

SimpliSafe takes a more flexible approach. You can self-monitor for free, pay for cloud storage on its own, or step up to one of several professional monitoring tiers. I have more on this in my guide to SimpliSafe’s pricing, but here’s the full breakdown:

The standout features at the higher SimpliSafe tiers are worth calling out. Intruder Intervention — available on the Core plan and above — lets monitoring agents speak directly through your indoor camera’s two-way speaker to confront a potential intruder in real time. Active Guard Outdoor Protection on the Pro and Pro Plus plans extends that to outdoor cameras, either overnight or 24/7 respectively. These are genuinely differentiated features that ADT doesn’t replicate, and they’re a meaningful reason to consider SimpliSafe if active deterrence is a priority for you.

Whatever system you choose, both ADT and SimpliSafe include cellular backup with any professional monitoring plan, keeping your system online even if your power or internet goes down — no extra charge required.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe Contracts

SimpliSafe doesn’t allow you to sign a contract that’s longer than a month unless you finance your system through Affirm — which means you can cancel anytime without a fee if you’ve paid upfront. ADT Pro Install works similarly: no contract is required if you pay for your equipment upfront, but financing your system over up to 60 months will require a contract for the duration of that term. Either way, ADT’s six-month money-back guarantee means you can get a full refund if the system doesn’t work as expected — a meaningful safety net even if you’ve signed a financing contract.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe Moving Policies

Moving with SimpliSafe is straightforward — since it’s a DIY system with peel-and-stick installation, you can take it down, pack it up, and reinstall it at your new address yourself. SimpliSafe will even send you a free Mover’s Kit with fresh adhesives and boxes if you let them know you’re relocating.

Moving with ADT Pro Install is a different conversation. Since a technician professionally installed your system, you can’t simply pull it off the walls and take it with you. ADT does offer a relocation service, but you’ll need to contact ADT before your move to review your options, which may include transferring your monitoring contract to your new address and scheduling a new installation. If you’re still under a financing contract, your obligations carry over to the new address. It’s not a deal-breaker for homeowners who plan to stay put for a few years, but if frequent moves are part of your life, SimpliSafe’s portability is an advantage worth weighing.

Top System for Monitoring

Due to its more affordable and flexible professional monitoring options, I’m giving SimpliSafe the crown over ADT for professional monitoring. They’re a more transparent company in general, and I love that their plans are low-cost and can be canceled whenever. Plus, they give you the option to self-monitor for free, if you’re looking to save some money! You can self-monitor with ADT Blu too, but SimpliSafe gives more flexibility here.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe Customer Support

If you’re looking to contact customer support through either company, you can look at their online user forums and help centers, call them over the phone or use their live chat. While SimpliSafe also offers email support, you can contact ADT over Facetime. This may seem a little odd, but if you want to show someone something rather than tell them about it, it could come in handy.

Now let’s see what real customers had to say about ADT and SimpliSafe’s customer support. As ADT isn’t available on Amazon, I checked out its reviews on Google. Currently, ADT has a Google rating of 2.5, already a bit concerning. When I looked at the reviews that mentioned customer support specifically, 16 out of 17 were very negative. Many people even said that they were deceived about the contract term length and couldn’t reach customer support when they needed help, clearly a huge red flag.

“We tried to secure our business with about half a million dollars worth of assets with ADT only to find out that there was an issue with our alarm system and we were not being monitored for over 3 months… ADT does not have a process to inform the customer when the alarm is not working. We were never called or informed about this issue,”

wrote Rommel D’souza in a recent one-star review.

As the SimpliSafe system that I bought isn’t on Amazon, I checked out reviews for a similar 12-piece system on Amazon. Overall, the system got a rating of 3.5, which is already more than ADT can say. Out of over 5,300 reviews, 74% were five stars. On Google, SimpliSafe has a three-star rating with more positive customer support reviews.

“I’m very impressed both with the quality of the alarm system and with customer service. The alarm was easier than I expected to install and any questions I had was answered by their representatives,”

wrote Gerald Flanders in a five-star review.

Top System for Customer Support

Another easy round— SimpliSafe has much better customer support than ADT, as evidenced by thousands of customer reviews. If you’ve been counting, we’re at SimpliSafe three, ADT zero. Can ADT redeem itself in the last round? Let’s find out.

ADT vs. SimpliSafe App

Even though you’ll have professional monitoring, you still want to make sure you can check out and control your system wherever, whenever. Let’s see how ADT and SimpliSafe’s apps stack up.

The ADT+ App

From the ADT+ app, you’ll be able to arm or disarm your system, control any connected devices, livestream footage from your Nest Cams, and receive push notifications. The app has great ratings— a 4.4 from the Google Play store and a nearly-perfect 4.8 from the Apple store. That’s what I like to see!

The SimpliSafe App

In an ironic twist, the SimpliSafe app has almost the same rankings on both Google Play and the Apple store, meaning that users found it just as easy to use and as functional as the Pulse app.

Recap of ADT vs. SimpliSafe

It’s really anyone’s game when it comes to ADT and SimpliSafe. Both are top-quality systems, but they are fundamentally different in how they offer home security, so the decision on which is better depends on your needs and budget.

For more information, read our full review of the SimpliSafe security system.