SimpliSafe vs. Blink: Comparing Two Contract-Free Security Systems

To cut to the chase, we liked SimpliSafe and Blink. They’re both great choices when it comes to top-notch contract-free DIY home security, but the two companies differ in their approaches. That means one of them is going to be better for you depending on your security needs. But, how do you know which one? We tested them both to answer exactly that question.

SimpliSafe offers security systems powered by sensors and cameras to detect intrusions and other possible home dangers. Blink, on the other hand, is camera-centric. It has a line of wireless and wire-free cameras that work together to keep burglars out. While we prefer SimpliSafe’s approach, we’ll give you the pros and cons of both based on our in-home testing so you can figure out which is best for you.

A Side-by-Side Comparison of SimpliSafe and Blink

Before we dive into the details, let’s start with a side-by-side comparison of what SimpliSafe and Blink offer for a better understanding of each company.

Just like the table appears, SimpliSafe offers more comprehensive home security equipment and services than Blink. That doesn’t mean Blink’s always the worse choice though. They offered us more than SimpliSafe in a few ways. For example, Blink offers a wider range of security camera variations and it has more affordable cloud recording plans than SimpliSafe. To get the bigger picture, let’s dive into our detailed comparison.

Round 1: Equipment Options

Let’s start with the first thing you’ll look at when buying either SimpliSafe or Blink, the equipment. We spent hundreds on both companies, so we’ve tested nearly their full lineup.

SimpliSafe’s Equipment Options

Every SimpliSafe system requires a base station and analog keypad. They act as the brains of a SimpliSafe system. We paired all of our components to the base station so that the monitoring center received our alerts. It also linked our system to SimpliSafe’s online portal so that we could control our system with the app.

Once we added our base station and keypad to our cart, we got to pick from dozens of sensors, including motion sensors, door sensors, and glass-break sensors. They also offer environmental-hazard sensors like smoke alarms and freeze alarms. To round out its home security system, SimpliSafe has two indoor cameras, a wire-free outdoor camera, and a doorbell camera.

Blink’s Equipment Options

We could buy some of Blink’s cameras on their own without any additional equipment or a base station. But, the battery-operated and wire-free cameras required a Blink Sync Module to use so we bought one. You can read our Blink security camera review for a full overview of every Blink camera available. Essentially, though, these are your options:

• Blink Mini (indoor camera)
• Blink Indoor (battery-powered indoor camera)
• Blink Outdoor (battery-operated outdoor camera)
• Blink Outdoor Floodlight (battery-operated outdoor camera)
• Blink Video Doorbell (wireless doorbell camera)

Blink unfortunately lacks security sensors, so we used our cameras’ motion and sound detectors to get alerts about activity on our property.

Equipment Options Winner — SimpliSafe

There’s no avoiding the fact that Blink doesn’t offer security sensors. Not everyone needs security sensors, but most people do, so SimpliSafe wins this category.

Round 2: Installation

Both companies offer simple, DIY installation, mostly thanks to their wireless — and sometimes wire-free — components. Let’s zoom in on both companies and discuss our experiences installing them.

Installing Our SimpliSafe Security System

SimpliSafe is one of the best DIY security systems because of its streamlined installation process. The several times we’ve installed a SimpliSafe system, it took less than 30 minutes to set up the base station, sensors, and cameras. Even the wired SimpliSafe Video Doorbell we reviewed proved easy to set up.

We started by setting up the base station, and then we paired the sensors and other peripherals using the wireless keypad. Next we mounted the sensors and the cameras. To finish, we set up the app for easy control and monitoring.

Installing Our Blink Security System

With Blink, each camera is a stand-alone device, which means we had to set them up one by one. The Blink Mini was the easiest we’ve installed by far, as you can see in our Blink Mini review. We simply plugged it in and connected it to our Blink app.

The Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor, on the other hand, required a Sync Module. Once we got the cameras to pair with the sync module, they connected to our smartphone immediately. The Blink Video Doorbell, which works as a wireless doorbell, didn’t require any hardwiring at all.

Installation Winner — SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe provided a smoother setup experience, edging out Blink by a hair. Both are great security systems for renters because of their DIY installation process.

Round 3: Monitoring

SimpliSafe and Blink can both be self-monitored, which means they are contract-free security systems you can use without monthly fees. Both companies offer paid plans, however, in case you want to upgrade your experience.

SimpliSafe Monitoring

SimpliSafe’s paid plans are either cloud plans, professional monitoring plans, or both. Here’s a quick breakdown of their six plans as well as their prices:

Our favorite SimpliSafe plan is the Core plan. It gives a good balance between features and price. We particularly like its live guard monitoring feature. That let SimpliSafe’s monitoring agents see video from our Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Camera and use its two-way talk to spook off intruders. At $31.99 per month, it’s great value considering a comparable plan from Ring costs $99 per month.

Blink Monitoring

Blink’s paid plans are all for cloud storage. You can either pay $3 per month for each camera or $10 per month for unlimited cameras. Either way, you’ll get 60 days of unlimited video history.

What’s great about Blink’s plans is that we got discounts by paying for a year up front. We paid $100 for cloud storage for unlimited cameras saving us $20. For one camera, cloud storage would cost $30 instead of $36 if paid monthly.

Monitoring Winner — SimpliSafe

Sure, Blink’s cloud storage plans are a good deal especially since we paid for a year upfront to get a discount. But, SimpliSafe’s professional monitoring options ensure optimal protection from burglary, intrusion, and other home hazards such as fire and gas leaks. We recommend the Core plan for most since the price of the Pro and Pro Plus plans are outside of most people’s budget. With Blink, you have no option but to self-monitor and we don’t have the time to keep an eye on our system 24/7.

Round 4: Cost

Price is always one of the determining factors when choosing a home security system, but the cheapest systems don’t always come out on top. It’s usually about which security systems are affordable, but offer the best features for their price.

SimpliSafe’s Pricing

With SimpliSafe, we got a starter package with the bare minimum components for $250. That included the base station, keypad, a motion sensor, and an entry sensor. From there, we customized our packages to fit our home. We added a few more sensors that range in price from $15 to $40 a piece. Those give the best value for the security they add.

We also wanted some cameras. SimpliSafe offers four options and we decided to buy each one. The wired indoor camera cost us $99, the wireless indoor camera cost us $149.99, the video doorbell cost $169, and the outdoor camera costs $199.99. Like we mentioned in the monitoring section, we could use our SimpliSafe system without paying any monthly fees but we opted for their Core monitoring plan at $31.99 per month.

Blink’s Pricing

With Blink, the most affordable camera — the Blink Mini 2 — costs just $40. It’s small and affordable, but it’s one of the best indoor security cameras. We bought four of them keeping our bill well under $200. We put one in our living room that could also see our entryway, one in our kitchen, one at the top of our stairs to the second floor, and one in the garage.

For outdoor coverage, we went with the $99 Blink Outdoor. We got one of the basic models and one with a Floodlight attachment that costs an extra $30. The floodlight one worked perfect for over our garage since it could illuminate our entire driveway from there. Then, we put the basic model overlooking our backyard. For our front door, we used the Blink Video Doorbell which costs $50. All in, that puts our equipment bill at under $450 for protecting a mid-sized house.

To get cloud storage for all of those cameras, we signed up for the $10 per month plan. We could have foregone cloud storage and monitored our system for free, but we like to have video evidence in case a crime occurs.

Cost Winner — Blink

Blink is more affordable than SimpliSafe, especially if you compare security cameras from both brands head to head. That’s why Blink won this category. Looking at the video doorbells shows why Blink provides some of the best value in the industry with theirs only costing $50. SimpliSafe’s costs over three times as much at $169.

That said, SimpliSafe gives a lot more options. And their entry sensors still cost less than Blink’s cameras, so a SimpliSafe system can cost less if you don’t need many security cameras. If you need more than cameras and cloud storage, SimpliSafe is a great and affordable alternative. For SimpliSafe’s full pricing, head to our page on SimpliSafe equipment and plan costs.

Round 5: Apps

For the final piece of the puzzle, let’s talk about SimpliSafe’s and Blink’s respective apps. Both systems are app-centric, which means you’ll mostly rely on an app to control and monitor your home security. That also means any bugs in the apps can cause vulnerabilities in your security system.

SimpliSafe’s App

Every function for our SimpliSafe security system was available directly in the app. It’s where we went to arm or disarm our system, check on alerts, change our subscription plan, livestream security camera footage, and review recordings. We could also customize the sensitivity level of our sensors and cameras to cut down on false alarms.

The app is as streamlined as the rest of the system which is great considering SimpliSafe doesn’t offer a touchscreen control hub. So, we ended up using the app to control our system on most occasions. While it usually worked flawlessly, we did encounter a couple of bugs. Our biggest complaint was when the privacy shutter on our indoor camera stayed open after we tried to close it from the app. Generally speaking, however, it’s one of the best apps for home security.

Blink’s App

Blink, on the other hand, offers an app designed to complement security cameras well. The Blink Home Monitor App did exactly what its name implies: It monitored our home. Upon opening the app, the home page presents us with a preview of each of our camera’s video feeds. Then, we can get to any camera’s live feed by tapping the preview.

From the live view screen, Blink’s app showed us time-stamped thumbnails of recordings from the camera. We could click on any of them to review the recording that got triggered from its motion detector. There was also a bar at the top showing us how much storage we had left so that we could delete unnecessary clips if our storage was getting too full. When clicking on any camera, we could also set the camera’s arming modes or automate the arming and disarming of the camera’s motion detectors.

App Winner — SimpliSafe

We’ve had great experience with both the SimpliSafe Home Security App and the Blink Home Monitor App. The SimpliSafe app has a slight leg up because it supports more features and the experience is smoother than the Blink app. But, that’s since we’re nit picking. Both apps really are great with each of them earning at least a 4.5-star review on iOS and Android.

Our Final Verdict

Comparing SimpliSafe and Blink is like comparing apples to oranges. They are two different breeds of home security systems. SimpliSafe offers comprehensive home security systems with entry sensors, motion sensors, environmental hazard sensors, and security systems. They also offer multiple tiers of professional monitoring with some unique capabilities like live guard monitoring at affordable prices.

Blink, on the otherhand, focuses entirely on affordable home security cameras. Some of those cameras cost less than SimpliSafe sensors and with built-in motion detection, they can work as motion sensors. But, there’s no option for professional monitoring and only cloud storage plans. So, it’s much more of a DIY home security solution than a complete home security system. That’s why we’re giving the crown to SimpliSafe.

Still unsure which provider to choose? Here’s how to pick between SimpliSafe and Blink based on your security needs.