3 Best Vivint Alternatives in 2024
After testing over 60 security systems, we picked our three favorite Vivint alternatives.
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Last Updated on Jul 18, 2024
We like Vivint a lot. It’s one of our top-rated home security systems, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect or the best choice for everyone. Whether the high-tech nature of Vivint’s security system overwhelms you, the price tag puts you off, or you hate long contracts, our security team picked out a Vivint alternative for everyone.
Out of the 60 security systems we tested, we liked ADT, SimpliSafe, and Cove. We’ll go over exactly what makes those three systems the best Vivint alternatives, comparing them directly to our experience with Vivint. Let’s get started!
Comparison of the Best Vivint Alternatives
| System |
ADT
|
SimpliSafe
|
Cove
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| Ratings | 9.8/10 | 9.2/10 | 8.7/10 |
| Equipment costs | Starting at $599 or $194.98 with Self Setup | Starting at $199.97 | About $300 |
| Professional monitoring required | Not with Self Setup | No | Yes |
| Monthly costs | Starting at $24.99 per month | Starting at $19.99 per month | Starting at $17.99 per month |
| Contract length | Starting at 36 months or month-to-month with Self Setup | Month-to-month | Month-to-month |
| Read Review | ADT Review | SimpliSafe Review | Cove Review |
Vivint Alternatives
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1. ADT
Product Specs
Equipment Costs Packages starting at $599 Monitoring Options Professional Monthly Monitoring Costs Starting at $25 per month Contract Lengths 36 months and up Installation Options Professional Smart Platform Integration Alexa and Google Home ADT as a Vivint Alternative
Vivint focuses on offering the most high-tech equipment, while ADT focuses on reliability. It’s a brand you can trust, with over 150 years in business. That’s something Vivint can never compete with. ADT expands on that inherent trust by investing in making its monitoring more robust. It has 12 monitoring centers, a recent expansion from the six it had a few years ago. Vivint, by comparison, has two monitoring centers.
Pro Tip: The more monitoring centers, the better. If a natural disaster or power outage impacts one region, ADT’s other monitoring centers are sure to keep its customers online and secure.
Equipment
ADT’s equipment isn’t quite as fancy as Vivint’s. We mostly missed the Smart Deter feature in our Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro. It shined its LED light and sounded an alarm when it detected suspicious activity, which made sure the neighborhood kids kept our house free of toilet paper on Halloween.
Just because Vivint’s equipment is exceptionally good doesn’t mean our ADT equipment was anything to scoff at. We particularly liked the facial-recognition capabilities of the Nest Cams we tested. They gave us more intelligent alerts than Vivint could. When our mom stopped by, it sent an alert to our phone telling us it was our mom at the door instead of just a random person.
The pricing on those Nest Cams is confusing, though, with different prices for Self Setup and Pro Install. Here’s an overview.
Pro Install Self Setup Google Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery)
$309 $179.99 Google Nest Doorbell (battery)
$229 $179.99 Google Nest Cam (indoor, wired)
$199 $99.99 Monitoring Plans
Last year, ADT and Vivint had similar monitoring costs that easily went well over $40 per month. ADT redid its monitoring plans completely, bringing down its prices in the process. Our ADT monitoring plan costs $34.99 per month, and that’s the premium plan for systems with cameras. It includes Nest Aware for the Google Nest cameras that come with ADT systems.
We had to pay over $45 per month for a similar Vivint system. Without cameras, our ADT monitoring would have cost $24.99 and our Vivint monitoring $39.99 per month.
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2. SimpliSafe
Product Specs
Equipment Costs Packages starting at $280 Monitoring Options Professional and DIY Monthly Monitoring Costs $19.99 per month Contract Lengths Month-to-month Installation Options DIY or professional Smart Platform Integration Alexa and Google Home SimpliSafe as a Vivint Alternative
If you’re looking for a Vivint alternative because you want the option of free DIY monitoring, SimpliSafe may be the right choice for you. It still features high-quality equipment, and you can either get your system professionally installed or DIY install it for free. SimpliSafe lets you run your home security system exactly how you want. It gives you control instead of acting as the expert who knows what’s best for you, like Vivint.
Equipment
We liked our SimpliSafe system a lot, but its equipment didn’t give us the same premium feel as Vivint. Its keypad is analog instead of a touch screen, for example, which limits its capabilities. We liked watching our outdoor camera’s livestream on our Vivint touch screen.
There was also no option for a battery-powered video doorbell, which meant we had to replace our current doorbell when installing our SimpliSafe system. Vivint doesn’t offer a battery-powered video doorbell either though. Once we got it set up, it was a great video doorbell. Take a lap around our SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro review for our full experience.
FYI: It may seem obvious, but wired video doorbells are harder for burglars to steal than wireless options. They also get less interference that can interrupt their Wi-Fi signals. That makes hardwired options more robust and reliable. We can still get annoyed about the longer installation process though.
On the plus side, SimpliSafe’s pricing reflects its more basic equipment. Our Vivint system with three sensors, an outdoor camera, a smart lock, and a smoke and carbon monoxide detector cost nearly $1,200. A comparable system from SimpliSafe — without the smart lock, since the company doesn’t sell one — costs less than $450. That’s some big savings.
Monitoring Plans
SimpliSafe offers two monitoring plans. Both cost less than Vivint, so we recommend going with the premium one. Here’s an overview of both of SimpliSafe’s monitoring plans so you can decide which one is best for you.
Standard monitoring Fast Protect monitoring 24/7 professional monitoring Yes Yes Intruder deterrence No Yes Video-verified alarms No Yes Cloud storage No Yes Cellular backup Yes Yes Cost $19.99 per month $29.99 per month We like the Fast Protect plan most because it includes a unique live guard feature that lets SimpliSafe monitoring agents temporarily access your security cameras to verify alarms. They also use the two-way talk feature to shoo away intruders or give you guidance on finding safety. That’s what sold us on it.
What’s great about SimpliSafe is that you don’t need to get either plan if you don’t want to. You can avoid monthly fees altogether by monitoring your system entirely, or get the $9.99-per-month self-monitoring plan that gives you cloud storage, cellular backup, and more advanced smart-home capabilities.
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3. Cove
Product Specs
Equipment Costs Must customize package Monitoring Options Professional Monthly Monitoring Costs Starting at $17.99 per month Contract Lengths No contract required Installation Options DIY Smart Platform Integration Alexa and Google Home
Cove as a Vivint Alternative
When price is a big factor, you can’t go wrong with Cove. It covers all the basics you need to secure your home, plus a few nice additions. Every package is fully customized, ensuring you never end up with equipment you don’t need.
Vivint fully customizes its systems, too, but you need to talk to a Vivint salesperson to get your system. That means you need to tread the water of upsells to avoid anything unnecessary. Cove lets you buy your entire system online so you can take your time picking out your ideal system without any pressure.
Pro Tip: We recommend one entry sensor on every ground-floor door and window, one outdoor camera, one video doorbell, and one indoor camera for most homes. Putting together a list of equipment you need before calling a home security provider for help building out your system can help you avoid pesky upsells.
Equipment
Given the low prices of Cove’s equipment, its quality surprised us. It doesn’t quite meet the standards of SimpliSafe for a DIY comparison, but it also costs less. There’s no wireless indoor camera, for example, but the indoor camera costs less than $60, which is half the price of the industry-standard $100. We like that Cove uses Eufy cameras too. The cameras regularly make our roundup of the best home security cameras, because they provide great value.
You can get door or window sensors for less than $15 each when they’re not on sale. They regularly go down to less than $5 each. Vivint’s entry sensor costs $50. Even though the equipment isn’t as advanced as Vivint’s, our wallet was a lot happier with our cart total from Cove.
Monitoring Plans
Kind of like SimpliSafe, Cove also gives you two options for professional monitoring — but you don’t get the choice to self-monitor your system. With Cove, professional monitoring is mandatory. Both plans are $2 per month cheaper though. The more expensive plan is for systems with security cameras. Here’s a quick overview of both plans.
Cove Basic Cove Plus 24/7 professional monitoring Yes Yes Text-based alerts Yes Yes App access Yes Yes Equipment warranty 1 year Lifetime Camera support No Yes Alexa and Google Assistant voice control No Yes Price $17.99 per month $27.99 per month Instead of the unique live guard protection you get with SimpliSafe’s monitoring plan, Cove offers some of the fastest response times in the industry thanks to its exclusive partnership with RapidSOS. That cuts three to four minutes off the average six- to 13-minute response time.
Which One Is Right for You?
Vivint is a great home security system. If you want smart-home capabilities and cutting-edge technology, it’s hard to beat. Some people prioritize reliability above all else. For them, we like ADT. It’s one of our favorite security systems overall, and it gets better year after year.
Others want complete control over their security system. In those cases, we recommend SimpliSafe. You don’t get locked into anything, and you can fully self-monitor your security system if you want. If your budget is the main thing holding you back from Vivint, Cove gets the job done. There aren’t nearly as many bells and whistles, but the equipment is about a quarter the price.
FAQs About Vivint Alternatives
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What’s the best Vivint alternative?
The best Vivint alternative depends on why you’re looking for a Vivint alternative. We like ADT for anyone who wants a company with a long-standing history, SimpliSafe if you don’t want to be locked into monitoring, and Cove when Vivint can’t fit into your budget.
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Is Vivint a good security system?
Yes, Vivint is one of our favorite security systems. It features cutting-edge equipment, high-quality monitoring, and white-glove installation.
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How much more expensive is Vivint?
Most of Vivint’s security system is about double the price of the industry norm. In our opinion, Vivint justifies that price increase with its premium-quality products.
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Can I get a Vivint system without a contract?
We used to have to say no, but now you can get a Vivint system without a contract if you pay for your equipment up front. Expect a bill over $1,000 if you take that route though. You also still need to pay for professional monitoring for most of your system’s features to work.
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How do I cancel my Vivint contract?
Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot you can do to get out of your Vivint contract once you pass the money-back-guarantee timeframe.