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ADT’s in-home consultation and 150 years of experience installing security systems put it at the top of our list.
Updated February 12, 2026
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With over 150 years of experience, ADT technicians know the perfect locations to install every piece of equipment to protect you and support their industry-best monitoring centers.
When you want a system that does more than keep your home safe, Vivint offers a complete selection of smart home products on top of its industry-leading security equipment.
SimpliSafe’s interactive monitoring allows their agents to actively deter crime on your property and guide you to safety in the event of a break-in or other emergency.
Even the best DIY security systems still take a lot of time to get up and running. From planning out where to place your security cameras to pairing all of the components together, installing a security system takes time that some of us don’t have. That’s where professionally installed security systems come in.
Thankfully, all of the best security systems offer professional installation. But, how do you know you can trust their technicians in your home? That’s where we come in. We tested dozens of security companies in our own home to give you our firsthand experience. After those tests, we found ADT to offer the best professionally installed system, closely followed by Vivint and SimpliSafe. Keep reading to learn what we liked (and didn’t like) about these security systems.
The best way to provide you with trustworthy and unbiased recommendations is by testing home security products ourselves. That means we buy the equipment, install it in our homes, and test it for weeks or even months. We aim to get a good feel for the app, features, response time, and what it’s like to live with each security system. That way, we can give you recommendations you can trust based on our actual experiences.
Multiple factors affect the testing of home security systems, but we do our best to compare apples to apples. We had all security systems installed in a two-story, 2,200-square-foot house owned by one of our team members. That’s where we conducted all our tests since we find that using a real home environment helps gather the most accurate findings.
We even purchased the same devices for every security system and set them up in identical locations. Here is where we typically place components:
We considered multiple factors when narrowing down the best professionally installed home security systems. We determined these criteria should be top priority:
We reviewed each system using these criteria, and here is how we arrived at the top five:
Rating the Best Professionally Installed and Monitored Security Systems
We’re not like those websites that review everything from socks to hedge trimmers. Our experts exclusively review safety and security equipment. This means they uncover details others might miss, giving our readers more accurate recommendations. The experts who contributed to this review were:
With over 75 years of combined industry experience, we are the most accomplished home security team on the internet. Since SafeHome.org began in 2016, our work has been highlighted in several major outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Together, we’ve achieved:
Every recommendation is based on first-hand product experience and our understanding of the home security industry. Now, let’s find out more about the best professionally monitored and installed home security systems.
| System |
ADT
|
Vivint
|
SimpliSafe
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking |
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
| SecureScore™ | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.2 |
| Contract Length | Monthly or 36 months | Monthly or 3 to 5 years | Monthly |
| Installation Type | Professional and DIY | Professional | Professional and DIY |
| Professional Monitoring Cost | Starting at $24.99 per month | Starting at $24.99 per month | Starting at $22.99 per month |
| Equipment Cost | Packages starting at $269 | Packages starting at $199 | Packages starting at $249.96 |
With more than 150 years in the industry, ADT brings deep expertise to professional installation and monitoring. Based on our firsthand experience, the technician clearly knew where to place each device for optimal coverage and took the time to explain how everything worked, from daily use to what happens when an alarm is triggered. They also walked us through ADT’s monitoring process, including its network of 12 monitoring centers nationwide. That level of redundancy gave us added confidence and exceeded what we typically see from competitors like Vivint and SimpliSafe.
The new and improved ADT entryway sensors
Our professional installation from ADT started before the installation day. What we mean by that is before we ordered equipment or spent any money with ADT, they sent a professional out to our house to figure out what equipment we needed. That’s something you don’t get if you buy a DIY ADT system. You’ll need to watch for upsells during the process, but we found ADT’s in-home consultation provided a more tailored security system than the phone consultation Vivint offers.
As for the installation itself, ADT’s 150 years of experience showed, although it cost us about $150. Their technician clearly followed a well-established process as they set up our whole system in about an hour. ADT told us to set aside two hours for install, but we think that’s just to give the technician time in case there are any surprises. After installing everything, he walked us through how to use our system and a few of ADT’s unique features like Trusted Neighbor.
FYI: ADT’s Trusted Neighbor is a feature that leverages the facial recognition in the Google Nest Cams that they now offer. Basically, you can make it so your system automatically lets in specific people during events, such as a confirmed alarm, or at specific times. We set it up to let our house cleaner in every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
In the last couple of years, ADT significantly dropped their price for professional monitoring down to as low as $24.99 per month. However, that’s for their DIY systems. They charge $10 per month more to monitor their professionally installed systems, which we don’t really understand. It goes up from there depending on if you want home automation and security cameras. That puts ADT’s pricing slightly above industry averages. Here’s a look at the price of ADT’s monitoring plans:
| ADT Monitoring Plan | Price Per Month for DIY Systems | Price Per Month for Professionally Installed Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Secure Monitoring | $24.99 | $34.99 |
| Smart Monitoring | $29.99 | $39.99 |
| Complete Monitoring | $39.99 | $49.99 |
Here’s a side-by-side look at both the Kwikset (left) and Yale (right) smart locks we tested.
ADT’s partnership with Google has significantly enhanced its home automation capabilities. During our installation, the technician walked us through ADT’s automation process and helped us set up several scenarios. For instance, we set up our ADT smart lock to automatically lock when our Google Nest Doorbell detects motion while we’re away. When we’re home, it triggers our entryway light instead.
Another good aspect of ADT’s home automation capabilities is that the system runs on the Z-Wave platform. That means ADT can connect to over 4,000 third-party smart devices. We own a set of Z-Wave smart bulbs that our technician helped us integrate into our ADT system. This integration is how we turned our entryway light on when someone was at our door.
Did You Know? ADT offers Yale smart locks among its smart lock options, which is one of the best smart locks on the market and provides seamless integration with their security systems.
>> Read About: ADT Video Doorbell Review 2026
| Equipment Cost | Packages starting at $269 |
|---|---|
| Monitoring Options | Professional or DIY |
| Monitoring Cost | Starting at $24.99 per month |
| Contract Length | Monthly |
| Installation Options | Professional or DIY |
| Smart Platform Integration | Alexa and Google Home |
Our Vivint professional installation experience mirrored our ADT installation in many ways. The technician carefully explained the best equipment placement and the reasoning behind each location. While the monitoring service doesn't quite match ADT's gold standard, Vivint's devices are notably more advanced, particularly with their AI-powered smart home features.
Vivint’s system is so technologically advanced that they required us to have our system professionally installed.
There’s no question about it, the cost of Vivint’s professional installation is high. But, is it worth the premium price? In our opinion it was, but that’s more to do with the complexity of installing a Vivint system than the buying process as a whole.
Instead of sending out a professional to assess our home and figure out what equipment we need like ADT did, Vivint had us give them a call. They asked about our home and recommended equipment. Surprisingly, this led to more upsells. They tried to push each of Vivint’s camera options the most, but a simple “no thanks” got them to stop pushing.
After picking out our equipment, they sent an installation tech to install it all. We’re home security experts and even we wouldn’t have been able to install a Vivint system on our own. There was a lot of complicated wiring and even some drilling involved, so we understand why Vivint requires professional installation. Our install took approximately four to five hours, with an extra hour dedicated to walking us through the system’s features and operation.
Pro Tip: You can avoid Vivint’s hefty installation fee by timing your purchase with one of their sales. The last one to include professional installation was Vivint’s Black Friday sale.
To be quite frank, Vivint doesn’t have the same robust system as ADT for professional monitoring. Instead of 12 monitoring centers, Vivint only has two – but those two monitoring centers provide award-winning service.1 So, it’s not that Vivint’s professional monitoring is bad, they just don’t have the same built-up network of monitoring centers as ADT.
Despite the smaller network, Vivint’s pricing is competitive. Vivint provides custom quotes for monitoring based on your equipment. Costs typically start around $24.99 per month depending on your system configuration and features. That’s on par with ADT’s rates.
>> Read More: Vivint vs. ADT Home Security System Comparison
Our Vivint video doorbell alerts us anytime a package is delivered to our doorstep.
What Vivint might lack in terms of a robust professional monitoring network, it makes up for with its home automation capabilities. Just like ADT, it integrates with Z-Wave devices, but Vivint works with Zigbee devices too, opening up your smart device options even more. They also make plenty of their own smart home devices, from smart locks and garage door controllers to smart lights and thermostats.
We also liked Vivint’s automation system better. It’s easy to use but surprisingly flexible. Our favorite way to use it, as security nerds, was to pair our automation with the AI threat detection in our cameras. Anytime our cameras detected a potential threat, our smart speaker started playing the sound of a dog barking, our living room light turned on, and our Vivint smart lock engaged. That’ll scare any burglar away.
| Monitoring Options | Professional only |
|---|---|
| Installation | Professional |
| Smart Platform Integration | Alexa and Google Home |
| Equipment Cost | Starting at $199 |
| Monthly Monitoring Cost | From $24.99 |
| Contract Length | 60 months |
SimpliSafe is widely known for their DIY security systems, but they also offer professional installation services. Unlike Vivint, SimpliSafe provides transparent pricing from the outset. Their advanced monitoring includes intruder intervention features that set them apart in the professional installation space.
Setting up a home security system, especially one from SimpliSafe, is easier than most people think. It usually takes us less than an hour to install DIY systems, but we get it if you want a pro to install your home security system. That’s why we tested SimpliSafe’s pro install process. With such an easy-to-install system, we didn’t expect any hiccups from OnTech during our installation day, and we were right. Everything went smoothly.
We appreciated that they used each component’s mounting bracket instead of the peel-and-stick backing. During our DIY installs, we used the peel-and-stick backing since it’s easier, but we’ve had the adhesive wear out more than once, causing the component to fall. After the install, they showed us how everything worked. All together, it took about two hours.
SimpliSafe may not have multiple redundant monitoring centers like ADT, but they offer features that even ADT can’t match. The intruder intervention features stand out as industry-leading innovations.
Sure, SimpliSafe doesn’t have 12 redundant monitoring centers like ADT, but they offer a few features even ADT can’t compete with. Particularly, their Intruder Intervention and Active Guard Outdoor Protection features stand out.
Those features allow SimpliSafe’s monitoring agents to use your cameras during an identified threat. They can assess the situation by accessing the camera’s live feed and then guide you to safety with the camera’s two-way audio or scare off the intruder. Intruder Intervention works with the Wireless Indoor Camera while Active Guard Outdoor Protection works with the Wireless Outdoor Camera.
Here’s a look at SimpliSafe’s pricing for these monitoring capabilities:
| SimpliSafe Subscription | Standard Monitoring | Core Monitoring | Pro Monitoring | Pro Plus Monitoring |
| 24/7 Professional Monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intruder Intervention | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Active Guard Outdoor Protection | No | No | Overnight (8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time) | 24/7 |
| Monthly Rate | $22.99 | $32.99 | $49.99 | $79.99 |
>> Learn More: SimpliSafe Outdoor Security Camera Review 2026
FYI: SimpliSafe does not require professional monitoring. They offer free self-monitoring or a $9.99-per-month cloud storage plan for your cameras. However, we recommend professional monitoring.
Our OnTech installer used the SimpliSafe app to pair all of our equipment to our base station.
Unfortunately, SimpliSafe’s smart features don’t stack up against ADT or Vivint. The only third-party platforms you can connect to are Alexa and Google Home, and the capabilities are limited. You can only arm your system or check its current status with voice commands. We wish there were more options here. Check out our SimpliSafe vs. Vivint comparison to see how SimpliSafe stacks up against the smartest security system.
>> Learn About: SimpliSafe vs. ADT Comparison
| Monitoring options | Professional and DIY |
|---|---|
| Installation | Professional and DIY |
| Smart platform integration | Alexa and Google Home |
| Equipment cost | Packages starting at $250.96 |
| Monthly monitoring cost | From $22.99 |
| Contract length | Monthly |
While our top three picks provide the best professional installation service with top-tier monitoring and equipment, there are a couple options we wanted to highlight for their free professional installation.
Brinks has been around for decades. But it still hasn't quite nailed professional monitoring and installation like our top picks.
Here’s all the Brinks components we received prior to the installation.
We love how you can customize your packages and finance the equipment to make it easier on your monthly costs. You can also choose to install the equipment yourself if you want. But we recommend professional installation as their deals usually include it for free. The response time from the monitoring is also good, but you’re going to be paying for it with prices starting from $39.99. Throw in a long-term contract (36 months minimum), and you can start to see why we didn’t rank it higher.
Alder’s claim to fame was its 3.7-second average monitoring response time in 2017, which was certainly faster than the industry average. But now that the company has grown and started servicing more users, we haven’t experienced response times that fast anymore. We’d say it’s more or less within the 30- to 60-second industry average now.
Our Alder security system and security cameras on installation day.
Alder is still fast, but it doesn’t offer a lot of equipment options. That’s mainly why it didn’t make our top three despite offering free professional installation. While it offers all the necessary components like sensors and cameras, it doesn’t offer any smart home devices at all. It could be a good option for apartments and rental properties because of the wireless equipment, but when we reviewed Alder, we just weren’t impressed by the overall selection of equipment.
Most home security systems offer professional installation. And, even if they don’t, you can always hire a third party to install the system for you. So, you’ll need to look for more than just professional installation when figuring out which security system to choose. We recommend considering the following factors:
We managed to install all these Frontpoint devices in under 45 minutes.
The days when professional installation was mandatory are behind us. With systems like abode, which can be set up as easily as sticking sensors to your door frames, professional installation can feel like an unnecessary expense—but it’s anything but.
A quality professional installation goes beyond simply mounting equipment. A trained technician helps you design the system for maximum coverage, ensuring sensors and cameras are positioned for optimal protection. That expert guidance makes a real difference, especially since most of us don’t spend our days thinking about home security. That extra support can significantly strengthen your home’s safety and give you greater peace of mind.
The decisions don’t end at installation. You’ll also have to choose who is going to monitor the system. Will it be you or a professional monitoring center? Well, we certainly prefer the latter. Here’s what we know about the crimes and dangers that can take place at home:
The data makes one thing clear: having a professionally monitored security system adds real value. It takes the burden off you to constantly watch over your home, and in an emergency—if you or a family member can’t call for help—trained professionals can dispatch assistance immediately.
The police were called to our place during one of our break-in simulations.
We understand that a $20 to $50 monthly monitoring fee can feel like a lot, especially after paying for equipment upfront.
Still, professional monitoring delivers peace of mind that’s hard to put a price on. Knowing someone is actively watching your home 24/7 is reassuring, and consider this: it might only take preventing one serious incident every decade for the service to pay for itself. For many homeowners, that combination of security and confidence makes the extra cost well worth it.
From Anthony Travaglia, Retired Police Officer, Home Security Expert
While professional monitoring does take some responsibility off your shoulders, it doesn’t remove you from the equation entirely. It puts trained professionals in the driver’s seat, but staying engaged helps you get the most from your system. Based on our experience, here are key ways to maximize your professional monitoring:
Staying proactive ensures your professionally monitored system works as intended when it matters most.
Sometimes, installing a home security system yourself just isn’t appealing. If you have a large home, a complex layout, or simply don’t want to spend hours figuring out camera placement and sensor coverage, professional installation removes the guesswork. From our experience, it also creates a smoother customer journey—once you choose a system, the provider handles setup so you can focus on using the protection.
That said, installation and monitoring quality can vary widely between providers, and many require long-term contracts before you’ve fully experienced the system. After personally testing dozens of home security systems, we consistently recommend ADT, Vivint, and SimpliSafe for professionally installed home security due to their reliable monitoring, installation expertise, and overall performance.
From Anthony Travaglia, Retired Police Officer, Home Security Expert
Most providers do not offer a guarantee with their professional monitoring although ADT and a few others offer reimbursement for stolen items up to a certain amount.
Yes, most homeowner’s insurance includes a discount for a verified professionally monitored home security system. ADT even gives you money towards your homeowner’s deductible.
We won’t lie, getting a professionally installed and monitored home security system isn’t cheap. But, the most affordable home security systems still offer professional monitoring.
Most providers offer Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals that include free professional installation. You might be able to negotiate free installation with your system if you talk to your provider as well.
In our experience, ADT is the best overall system for professional installation and monitoring. Vivint’s great if you want smart home capabilities, and SimpliSafe offers interactive monitoring.
Vivint. (2021, April 19). Vivint Smart Home Named the TMA Monitoring Center of the Year for 2021.
https://www.vivint.com/company/newsroom/press/vivint-named-tma-monitoring-center-of-the-year-2021
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). Crime in the United States.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/tables/table-23
