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SimpliSafe blew us away with its affordable DIY equipment starting from $249.
Updated April 10, 2025
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We’re going to be straight with you from the start. The best way to protect your family and your home is to invest in a home security system that includes 24/7 professional monitoring. You never know when you’re going to be too busy to answer an alert yourself. With professional monitoring, that’s not a problem.
We get it, though. We’re not independently wealthy either, and it seems like the cost of everything is going up these days, from streaming services and food delivery to daycare and lawn care. Feeding our Bridgerton fix becomes more expensive all the time, and it sometimes feels like we’re buried beneath a pile of monthly fees. So, we say you need to invest in home security, and you say, with what sort of crumbs left over from my paycheck?
You do need to invest in home security, though. Life isn’t getting any safer, and a quality system can protect you from possible home invasions as well as other emergencies like flooding and fire.
So, we’ll make a deal with you. You promise to invest in a home security system, and we’ll tell you about some great systems that don’t require monthly fees. You’ll have to be in charge of your own monitoring, and you may have to live without some of the fancier technology that’s out there on the market, like facial recognition software. With the right system, you won’t even notice you’re lacking these extras.
Which ones are the right systems? We thought you’d never ask.
>> Check Out: Home Security System Guide
From Anthony Travaglia, Retired Police Officer, Home Security Expert
There are two essential components to any trustworthy home security system review. First, you have to actually test systems yourself. We know it seems obvious, but you might be surprised at how many people claim to know what they’re talking about when they don’t.
Second, and just as important, you have to spend your own money purchasing the systems you review. Let a company send you a system for free, and you never can tell when they may want you to say something nice about them. It sort of undercuts the objectivity of the reviewer.
We purchase systems with our own money, and we review them ourselves, from apps to door sensors to cameras to smoke detectors. We can give you an honest evaluation of these systems because we’ve lived with them, we’ve put them to the test, and we’re beholden to one.
It’s important to compare apples to apples. So we make sure to install all of our test units in the same environment – in this case, a two-story, 2,200-square-foot home owned by one of our security experts. We believe that testing security systems in a real home yields the most accurate results.
We also try to buy the same components from each brand we’re testing (cameras, sensors, etc.) and set those up in the same locations. You can see below where we typically install each piece of equipment we buy:
We also used our industry expertise to decide which features are most important to no-monthly-fee security systems. These features and factors should be top-priority:
We compared our top picks based on those criteria, and here’s our verdict.
Ranking the Best Security Systems Without Monthly Fees
We are a team of home security and safety experts. Unlike most other review sites, we spend all our time testing and reviewing security and safety-related products only – you won’t find smartphone and mattress reviews on our website. Safety and security are on our minds 24/7. Our security experts include:
Combined, we are the most experienced home security team on the internet, hands down. We started SafeHome.org back in 2016, and since then our work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNBC, and other major outlets. Collectively, we have:
Rest assured, our recommendations are always based on hands-on product experience and a deep knowledge of the home security industry and the brands we cover. So keep reading to find the best no monthly fee security system for your home and budget.
SimpliSafe Essentials Kit
Two things put SimpliSafe at the top of this list. First, SimpliSafe offers a host of tools that simplify self-monitoring, so you don’t have to give up security in order to save money. Even if you go with SimpliSafe’s free plan, you still get real-time alerts and access to live video footage. Second, SimpliSafe offers commitment-free professional monitoring when you need it. Need to go out of town for a week or two? Get one month of professional monitoring. Then when you’re back, go right back to self-monitoring. There are plenty of DIY-monitored home security systems out there and plenty of professionally monitored systems. Very few systems give you the freedom to do both like SimpliSafe does.
Obviously, SimpliSafe lets you save money with no-monthly-fee monitoring. You can also save on equipment. An entry-level Foundation system lists for just $250, and SimpliSafe’s top-of-the-line package, the Beacon, is only $700. Turns out, though, that SimpliSafe never actually charges its list prices. It’s always running a sale, sometimes up to 60 percent off. Do the math and you’ll discover that SimpliSafe is frequently one of the cheapest systems on this list.
Note that SimpliSafe’s no-monthly-fee monitoring doesn’t include video recording. You can add that service, though, for a reasonable monthly fee. Cloud storage is just $9.99 a month for unlimited cameras. SimpliSafe also offers affordable professional monitoring starting at $21.99 a month. Of course, if you’re looking for comprehensive professional monitoring coverage, plans are more expensive – from $31.99 up to $79.99. The nice thing is that you can switch back and forth to suit your needs since SimpliSafe doesn’t require monitoring contracts no matter what plan you’re on.
FYI: SimpliSafe is almost always running a sale. Equipment packages are sometimes up to 60 percent off. SimpliSafe’s Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sale included 70 percent off all equipment plus a free outdoor camera.
SimpliSafe equipment
SimpliSafe probably wouldn’t want us to tell you this, but there was a time when the company’s product line was so limited it didn’t even include an outdoor camera. You had to buy an outdoor “skin” for the indoor SimpliCam and hope for the best. Not only does SimpliSafe’s camera line now include an outdoor camera, but that camera is one of the best-equipped outdoor cameras on the market, with HD video, night vision, 10x zoom, and available Active Guard protection. Add a wireless indoor camera with two-way audio and a video doorbell with smart sensors and no one is getting by your perimeter. Oh, and you can still get that original SimpliCam – now known as the Wired Indoor Camera – if it’s more to your style.
Of course, four cameras isn’t a lot of options, particularly when you compare it to the dozens of different models Lorex offers. If all of those cameras are top-notch quality with industry-leading features, though, maybe you don’t need a lot of choices.
No monthly fees always means self-monitoring your system. The real question is whether or not you can self-monitor and still keep your home and your family secure. With SimpliSafe, you can count on instant alerts any time there’s a problem. The moment you get one, you can use the SimpliSafe app to pull up live footage and diagnose the problem. We even use the app to turn our system on and off, so we can make sure our home is protected even if we forget to arm it before we leave for work.
And while you’re interested in no-monthly-fee security, it’s worth pointing out that SimpliSafe offers more monitoring options than any other company on the market. You can add video recording and storage for $10 a month, add emergency dispatch for $22 a month, add video verification services for $32 a month, or invest in Active Guard monitoring with AI detection and live agent intervention for between $50 and $80. And because SimpliSafe doesn’t require you to sign any long-term contracts, you can try any of these plans out at any time with no commitment.
FYI: It’s easy to switch SimpliSafe monitoring plans. We went on vacation in the middle of testing the system and didn’t feel like dealing with alerts while we were lounging at the swim-up bar. So we tried the Fast Protect plan for a month. When we got back relaxed and refreshed, we switched back to the free self-monitoring plan.
SimpliSafe is a system that’s designed to give you control over your own home security. That starts with giving customers lots of choices. There are eight different prepackaged systems, the most of any company on this list. Installation is in your hands as well. You put equipment where you want it, and you can move it when you need to. You can even move it to a new home. And equipment is designed to be set up easily, which gives you a sense of control as well. We managed to do the whole thing in around half an hour, and that included the time we spent thinking about the best place to put our indoor camera.
Testing out SimpliSafe’s keypad.
We had control over our monitoring too. Since we were putting this list together, we went with true DIY self-monitoring. No monthly fees, but we were still in charge of our entire system. We got real-time alerts when the outdoor camera noticed someone lurking on our lawn and were even able to pull up live footage from our SimpliCam. Turns out it was just a neighborhood kid whose bike had gotten a little off course, but at least we knew what was happening.
The nice thing about SimpliSafe is that the company lets you add monitoring features if you need them. Heading out of town for a business trip? For $30 per month, you can have your home professionally monitored, and since there are no long-term contracts, you can cancel it once you get back home.
But SimpliSafe is by no means perfect. On our SimpliSafe wish list are free video storage options. If we could save video to a local storage device or to the cloud, we’d truly have control over our system, even without having to pay monthly fees. For now, video storage requires a fee. Although $10 per month for five cameras worth of recordings isn’t outrageous, free is always better.
>> Compare: SimpliSafe vs. ADT
| Monitoring options | Professional and DIY |
|---|---|
| Installation | Professional and DIY |
| Smart platform integration | Alexa and Google Home |
| Equipment cost | Packages starting at $249.96 |
| Monthly monitoring cost | From $21.99 |
| Contract length | Monthly |
Abode is one of the most affordable systems you can buy, which leads a lot of people to think it’s a cut-rate, budget system. The reality is that it offers a lot of the high-tech features you normally only find in expensive systems like Vivint. Even if you stick with the abode’s no-monthly-fee plan, you get integration with Alexa, Google Home, and even Apple Homekit. You can even create sophisticated routines connecting all your home’s smart devices together. You can get even more if you sign up for a monitoring plan, but no one out there gives you this many extras for free.
Abode is committed to putting home security into every homeowner’s hands. After all, it doesn’t matter whether you rent or own, and it doesn’t matter what kind of budget you might be working with, we all need and deserve to feel safe in our homes. Abode’s lowest-priced system starts at just $159, and even the most expensive packages are just $379.99. These sound like sale prices. And OK, you can sometimes find equipment prices like these from other systems, even SimpliSafe. With Abode, though, these are everyday prices. You don’t have to go looking for sales. That makes Abode among the most affordable systems on the market.
Of course, you can also save an additional chunk of change by self-monitoring, but abode offers some of the most affordable monitoring plans in the business. There aren’t quite as many options as with SimpliSafe, but you can always find a plan that’s going to fit your needs and your budget. Just $6.99 a month buys you cloud storage for an unlimited number of cameras. That’s $3 cheaper than SimpliSAfe. And while it doesn’t provide the kind of security you get from SimpliSafe’s Active Guard protection, even abode’s most expensive monitoring plan is just $25.99 a month.
abode Equipment
Abode takes a unique approach to home security equipment packages. Most companies offer a single line of equipment. You pay more depending on how many devices you order. The equipment itself, though, is the same no matter how much you spend. Not so with abode. The company offers three lines of equipment. If you order abode’s best package, the Iota, you don’t just get more equipment. You get better equipment. The Iota includes a hub with a built-in HD camera and support for Z-wave technology.
Abode offers just one camera, which has to do double-duty as both an indoor and outdoor device. However, the abode camera is rated IP65 so it can withstand the elements no matter where you decide to install it. There’s also a wireless video doorbell, which abode sells for under $100. Of course, as with all of abode’s other equipment, both these devices are fully compatible with smart home ecosystems like Alexa and Google Home as well as thousands of other smart home devices.
Pro Tip: Our favorite abode feature is the CUE automation platform. We’ve accumulated our share of smart devices over the years, so we connected them via the abode app. We don’t even turn off the lights when we go to bed anymore. WE set up a rule to do it for us.
Abode’s commitment to affordable home security extends to its no-monthly-fee self-monitoring option. You pay no money, but you still get all the tools you need to monitor your security, from real-time alerts to live video footage through the abode app.
You may already have noticed, though, that we have a bit of a bias towards professional monitoring. No-monthly-fee can save you a lot of money in the long run, it’s never going to be quite as safe as professional monitoring. Monitoring agents keep you safe even when you’re trying to host your kid’s sixth birthday at the park. So, while all the systems on this list provide no-monthly-fee options, they also all offer professional monitoring. You get what you want – self-monitoring – but you have other options when you need them.
>> Compare: abode vs. SimpliSafe
You just aren’t going to find any self-monitored, no-monthly-fee systems that offer the kinds of smart features abode does. The truth is that abode offers a lot of the same smart home integrations you’ll only get with more expensive systems like ADT and Vivint. Heck, those two don’t work with Apple HomeKit like abode does. And with Z-Wave technology, you can connect to literally thousands of smart home products or take advantage of IFTTT functionality.
Abode Cam 2
We connected our abode app to our our cell phone’s morning alarm system so motion detection shut off when we got up in the morning. Just for good measure, we also connected the toaster. We put a couple of bagels in before bed, and they were ready for cream cheese by the time we got out of the shower.
>> More Options: Best Security Systems for Apple
Some of the best smart functions require you to pay for abode’s Standard plan, and that’s a bit of a bummer. We feel like if abode is going to be a true no-monthly-fee system, it should just go all the way and give us everything need with no strings or dollars attached. However, even the free Basic plan let us control our system using just our voice. It’s one reason why we selected abode as one of our best self-monitored systems. One word from us on the way out the door, and the system’s motion detectors snapped back into action. We try not to let so much power go to our heads.
How many times do we need to say it? No system is perfect, and abode does have its downsides. You get far more home automation features with abode than you get with, say, SimpliSafe. But abode doesn’t offer the same level of customer support as SimpliSafe. You don’t get access to live support at all unless you sign up for a monthly paid plan. And you may need that support. abode’s DIY installation isn’t quite as intuitive as SimpliSafe’s.
Pro Tip: The abode hub we tested (iota All-in-One) sounds like a dial-up modem with the amount of beeps it makes. We suggest jumping into your system settings and selecting mute all sounds. You can thank us later.
| Monitoring options | Professional and DIY |
|---|---|
| Installation | DIY |
| Smart platform integration | Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit |
| Equipment cost | From $159.99 |
| Monthly monitoring cost | From $7.99 |
| Contract length | Month-to-month |
Most no-monthly-fee systems embrace the DIY mindset – DIY purchasing, DIY installation, DIY monitoring. Ring takes DIY to another level altogether, though. Everything about this system is under your control. Buy a little equipment, buy a lot of equipment, buy one camera – whatever suits your needs. Choose from tons of different camera models – indoor, outdoor, doorbell. Install everything yourself exactly where you want it. And, of course, monitor everything yourself for free if you want, at absolutely no cost.
Ring’s commitment to choice extends to price. The company offers a wide range of equipment packages at a wide range of price points. In the market for a simple, affordable system that offers great protection? Ring’s Basic Kit includes a stickup cam and a wireless doorbell for just $199.98. On the other hand, you can get the Whole Home Deluxe Kit with 14 separate pieces, including a Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, for just under $1,000. In between, there are alarm bundles, doorbell bundles, and even Pet Starter Kits. You’re not locked into purchasing a package, though. Ring is actually better known for selling equipment a la carte. When you can buy what you need and just what you need, you’re bound to save money. Or, start with an indoor camera for just $60 and add equipment as you go.
Full-service monitoring is just $20 a month. Of course, you’re here for the no-monthly fee package. You can do that if you’re willing to self-monitor. Ring even throws in extras like system alerts and free real-time video viewing. You should keep in mind, though, that while this package costs you nothing, it doesn’t include video storage. That can be useful if, say, you need to provide evidence to the police. Ring charges $4.99 a month per camera for storage, or for $9.99 a month, you can store footage from an unlimited number of cameras.
Pro Tip: Ring is owned by Amazon, so we managed to grab a bargain when the system was on special during the Prime Day sales. But keep your eye on their website as they have discounts and bonuses running all the time.
Ring Alarm (2nd Gen) Equipment
Ring’s real strength is its cameras. After all, this is a company that made its name by inventing the doorbell camera. The company offers a large selection, with models that come with unique features and functions. If you’re looking for a great indoor camera, for instance, you might dig further into our complete Ring Indoor Cam review. As we note there, this is a camera you can set up and forget about.
FYI: We watched videos on how to set up the equipment in the Ring app. They went for about two minutes each and took us through each step in the setup process.
If you’re looking for outdoor cameras, you’ll find even more options from Ring. There are models with two-way audio, models with floodlights and spotlights, wired models and wireless models. You can even get solar panels and save time and money dealing with batteries. Everything is rated to withstand the elements including rain, shine, and even blizzards. As we note in our full Ring camera review, whatever your security needs, there’s probably a Ring camera for you.
And while Ring may not be known for its other home security equipment – entry sensors, glass break monitors, and smoke detectors – the company offers everything you could need to set up a complete home security system. You can even purchase front door locks and smart thermostats.
Ring is another of those systems that gives you monitoring options. You can self-monitor for free, of course. Otherwise, why would Ring be on this page, right? And, of course, self-monitoring is entirely free if you forego cloud storage. Even for free, you get real-time notifications any time motion triggers a detector or someone opens a door, and you can pull up live footage any time. In fact, we connected Ring to Alexa so we were able to pull up video with just our voice.
Cloud storage costs extra – $5 a month covers one camera, while $10 covers an unlimited number of devices. And, like both SimpliSafe and abode, Ring offers a professional monitoring plan, but as an add-on to cloud plans. Monitoring costs $10 per month, which, added to the cloud plan, totals to only $20 per month.
Ring began life as the Ring Video Doorbell company. It didn’t sell entry sensors or smoke detectors. It didn’t even sell other cameras. So, as you might imagine, all monitoring through Ring in the early days was self-monitoring. These days, the company offers a wide range of equipment and monitoring options, including full professional monitoring. But Ring still very much understands the self-monitoring niche and gives customers plenty of options to make self-monitoring as easy as possible.
Ring Alarm sensors
The Ring app makes it easy to self-monitor. During our tests, we had complete control over all the system’s most important features through the intuitive app. When the neighborhood Girl Scouts were out selling cookies, our Ring doorbell let us know the moment they stepped on our front porch. Two-way audio let us order our Thin Mints, and they never even knew we were out to lunch with friends the whole time.
We sometimes think Ring is a little too DIY-centered. This is not a company that’s going to help you out if you’re having trouble deciding what equipment you need. Installation is mostly DIY as well. Ring will track down a local installer if you really need one, but you can do it easily yourself. And customer service is a bit … corporate. If you want no monthly fees, though, you’re probably a do-it-yourselfer anyway, so all of that may be right up your alley.
>> Compare: Ring vs. abode
| Monitoring Options | 24/7 professional and DIY |
|---|---|
| Installation | DIY |
| Smart Platform Integration | Alexa |
| Equipment Cost | From $244.95 |
| Monthly Monitoring Cost | $4.99 |
| Contract Length | 1-12 months |
Like Ring, Arlo began life as a home security camera company. You couldn’t buy sensors or hubs, and the company didn’t even offer professional monitoring. A lot has changed. Arlo now offers entire systems, and you can sign up for full 24/7 professional monitoring. Still, some things remain the same. Arlo still offers some of the most high-tech, high-performing cameras in the industry. It also still offers DIY monitoring for free.
Arlo isn’t just a no-monthly-fee system. It’s one of the more affordable systems on this list. The company streamlines purchasing by offering just one package, for $200. It’s basic – you get a keypad sensor, two of Alro’s all-in-one sensors, and a central hub. But Arlo expects you to add equipment to these base components to fill out your individual needs. We recommend adding cameras. After all, Arlo made its name with cameras, and prices are affordable – just $40 buys you an Essential Wired Indoor Camera. Even better, Arlo runs frequent sales with deep discounts. Right now, for instance, you can purchase equipment for as much as 63 percent off regular retail prices.
Pro Tip: If you’re going to buy Arlo’s cameras, make sure you have a good internet connection. 2K and 4K cameras need reliable Wi-Fi. Otherwise, you might be reviewing pixelated footage.
By this point, you know the drill – self-monitoring with Arlo is free. Cloud storage is $10 a month for one camera, $20 a month for unlimited cameras. That’s a bit steep compared to Ring, but you get a number of extra features for that price, including package detection and person recognition. We found audio detection to be the most useful of these. We knew the neighbor’s dog was on our porch, even though he wasn’t in front of the camera, by the click of his paws. Professional monitoring? That’s $29.99 a month.
Arlo Pro 4: What’s in the box?
Traditionally, Arlo has been known for cameras, so its selection of non-camera equipment is still fairly limited. However, the company offers a unique sensor that can perform up to eight different detection functions, from motion detection to smoke detection. That makes choosing equipment a lot more streamlined. With the extra time you’ll have, you can browse Arlo’s large camera section, which features everything from no-frills wired models to fully-loaded wireless models with LED floodlights.
If you’re looking to self-monitor to avoid monthly fees, you can certainly do that with Arlo. All of Arlo’s equipment connects to the mobile app, so you can check alerts and take a look at live footage any time you want. Add video storage for one camera for $8 per month or an unlimited number of cameras for $13 per month with the Secure plan. Arlo smart features and emergency response are available for $18 per month with the Secure Plus plan. Or for just $2 a month more, you can get full 24/7 monitoring with the Safe and Secure Pro plan. We’ve mentioned this once or twice already, but we always recommend a full monitoring plan for maximum security, and $20 is a great price.
Arlo has always made great cameras at affordable prices (for proof, check out our Arlo camera review). Even the $40 wired indoor camera comes with a 130-degree field of view, and some cameras max out at 180 degrees. We installed an Arlo Ultra with 4K resolution and were astounded. We could make out the return address label on the package that was delivered while we were at work. Turns out, it was a box with dog toys. Because of Arlo, we were able to text our neighbor from work and let them know their dog toys arrived. We’re sure Fido was pleased.
We’ll confess, we were a little skeptical of Arlo’s multi-purpose sensors. One sensor to handle eight different functions? Turns out, they do just that. You have to designate what exactly you want a particular sensor to do, and you can’t use one sensor to do multiple jobs at the same time. Our motion sensor couldn’t detect flooding water. We had to set up another sensor for that. Still, pretty impressive, and a nice aesthetic approach as well, since every sensor in our system matched perfectly with the others.
FYI: We make sure anyone approaching our home can see our security cameras, even at night. The Alarm Industry Research and Education Foundation revealed that 60 percent of convicted burglars said the presence of a security system would cause them to seek another target.1
The Arlo Pro 4
We should point out that you’ll give up some features if you plan to self-monitor your Arlo system. Without a paid monitoring plan, you won’t get person detection, for example, or Google Home integration. It’s pretty unusual to find a no-monthly fee system, though, that includes all the extras. No monthly fees is definitely nice, but you have to be willing to take care of your own monitoring, and you usually have to do it without a lot of tools to help you.
>> Compare: Arlo vs. Ring
| Connectivity | Wi-fi, Ethernet |
|---|---|
| Power | Wired, battery, PoE |
| Field of View | Up to 180° |
| Resolution | Up to 2160p |
| Storage | Cloud |
| Smart Platform Compatibility | Alexa and Google Home |
We stand by SimpliSafe, abode, Ring, and Arlo as our top picks for the best home security systems with no monthly fees. There’s a new option on the market, though, that we think has the potential to join this list. ADT sits at the tip-top of our list of best home security systems. We’ve never put it on this list, though, because traditionally, the company required customers sign up for a three-year professional monitoring plan. In the last several months, though, ADT began offering the option of self-monitoring with no monthly fees.
This is such a big shift for ADT that we’re not ready to fully endorse it. We should point out, for instance, that cloud storage costs extra, and it’s not as affordable as these other companies make it. Given ADT’s history of excellence though, we expect that the company will soon be giving the other systems on this list a run for their money.
Setting up an ADT motion sensor.
You can learn more in our ADT Self Setup review, but for quick reference, here’s what the system can do if you skip paying a monthly fee:
ADT Self Setup didn’t make our top recommendations because unlike SimpliSafe, abode, Ring, and Arlo, it doesn’t offer affordable cloud storage. You have to sign up for a full-on monitoring plan to playback security camera footage. But other than that, ADT Self Setup is as solid a choice as our other top picks.
You’re into self-monitoring; otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this. So it makes sense that you might want to do a little home security system research for yourself. Here’s what we might suggest you look for during your search.
Obviously, you want to start by finding systems that offer no-monthly-fee security. Plenty of systems out there require you to sign up for paid professional monitoring — ADT and Vivint, for instance. You want to avoid those brands.
On the other side of the coin, you want to make sure that eliminating monthly fees won’t compromise your safety. A DIY system should be straightforward for you to operate. It should also have a few minimum features to help you police your own property such as:
Of course, you want all the other aspects of your system to be top tier as well. There’s no reason to have a home security system if it’s not going to do its job. So, as we’ve talked about here, you also want to consider:
If you’re starting to question whether a home security system is worth the money, we suggest reading some studies. Some of the data that surprised us included:
Once you’ve got a list of systems that meet all these criteria, you can start comparing features, like how much home automation a particular system offers and whether or not you get a cool key fob and yard signs when you sign up. The main thing is that you and your family are protected. And, if you’ve looked carefully at price, equipment, monitoring, alerts, video feeds, and system control options, you will be protected.
We’ve mentioned it a couple of times already: If you’re looking for a home security system with no monthly fees, you’re going to need to monitor it yourself. Companies don’t give professional monitoring away for free. Of course, having no monthly fees is going to save you money over the long haul (maybe a lot of money). You’ll have to do the setup and monitoring yourself if you want to keep your home and your family safe. What’s involved?
Finally, keep in mind that you’re on your own when it comes to monitoring your home security; that means you need to get into the habit of checking when alerts come through. That includes nighttime alerts. It also includes all those times when you’re busy getting your teeth cleaned, sitting comfortably in your movie theater seat, or out biking. It can be helpful, in these situations, if you have someone to back you up, someone who can watch for alerts until you can take over again.
From Anthony Travaglia, Retired Police Officer, Home Security Expert
There’s something to be said for no-monthly fee security systems. There’s the saving money bit, and maybe that’s the best part, but there’s also the don’t-have-to-worry-about-your-system bit as well. You don’t have to keep up with bills, or worry about automatic debits when you’re short on cash. And you don’t have to worry about pushy customer service agents trying to upsell you on new products and improvements when they contact you about your bills.
If you’ve learned anything reading through this guide, let it be this. There are affordable systems, and then there are cheap systems. Just because a home security package comes with a low sticker price doesn’t mean it’s going to protect you. For that, you have to do your research. You have to know what you’re getting and you have to think about value rather than just the bottom line. Or, you can trust us to do that for you.
Our four top-rated no-monthly-fee home security systems are SimpliSafe, abode, Ring, and Arlo.
No. Most no-monthly fee security systems don’t offer video recording. Many of these systems offer real-time viewing for free, but most require a monthly fee if you want to add video recording.
No. Security systems without monthly fees don’t usually offer professional monitoring, at least without adding a fee. Many security systems without monthly fees do offer professional monitoring, but they include it as an add-on service that you must pay for. This would be an upgrade from the free self-monitoring option. Prices vary among companies.
Generally, the cost of a no-monthly-fee security system is the cost of the equipment you choose to install. That can vary greatly from one home to another. A single security camera may cost less than $100. Equipment for an entire DIY home security system averages between $250 and $400.
Yes, in many cases, you can, but it depends on the insurance company. Many offer a discount no matter what type of home security system you have. The discount may be higher if you subscribe to a professional monitoring service. Check with your insurance company for guidelines.
Security Magazine. (2013). Study Says Convicted Burglars Confirm Value of Alarms, Other Deterrents.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/84343-study-says-convicted-burglars-confirm-value-of-alarms-other-deterrents
Securiteam. (2024). US Burglary Statistics 2024.
https://securiteam.us/2024/04/23/us-burglary-statistics-2024/
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2023). FBI Releases 2022 Crime in the Nation Statistics.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2022-crime-in-the-nation-statistics
ScienceDaily. (2013). Through the eyes of a burglar: Study provides insights on habits and motivations, importance of security.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516160916.htm
