SimpliSafe Security Camera Options and Pricing

So, here are the questions. What exactly do SimpliSafe cameras cost? How do you make the most of their capabilities? And most importantly, are they worth the higher price? Keep reading. We’ve got the answers.

SimpliSafe Security Camera Cost

SimpliSafe offers two security cameras – the Wireless Indoor Camera and Outdoor Camera. The Wireless Indoor Camera is $149, making it more expensive than the Ring Indoor Camera we tested and most competitors. The Outdoor Camera is $199, matching average prices for similar devices.

When you combine SimpliSafe cameras with a Core or Pro monitoring plan, you get Intruder Intervention features. If the security system detects an intruder, a SimpliSafe monitoring agent accesses the indoor camera live feed, attempts to deter intruders, and contacts police. Even without a SimpliSafe plan, you can enjoy features like activity zones to reduce false alarms and AI motion detection to distinguish between pets and people.

One thing to keep in mind: SimpliSafe is always running a sale with discounts of up to 70 percent off. Equipment is deliberately priced high to make sale prices look better. They’ll even include free cameras with new systems during some sales. Find the best upcoming sales in our SimpliSafe deals page.

We added the SimpliSafe Wireless Indoor Camera to our SimpliSafe system.

SimpliSafe Subscription Cost

This is where SimpliSafe’s affordability comes into play. Even though their hardware is around industry averages, their subscriptions are both flexible and affordable.

For self monitoring, we could either do it for free or pay a $10 per month subscription to record footage from our cameras. Either way, we’d still get real-time alerts and the ability to pull up live video feeds with the cloud storage subscription also unlocking more advanced features like smart home integrations.

That said, the main reason SimpliSafe’s hardware seems expensive is because of the software and features they require to work with SimpliSafe’s advanced monitoring options. So, if you plan to self-monitor your cameras, you’re paying for functions you don’t need.

Full monitoring from SimpliSafe starts at $31.99 per month with basic monitoring at $21.99. SimpliSafe also offers higher-tier monitoring at $49.99 per month and $79.99 per month. These enable your outdoor camera’s AI to send alerts to SimpliSafe’s monitoring agents so they can manage threats in real-time using your camera’s two-way audio. A similar monitoring plan from Ring with active monitoring will run you $100 a month.

Here’s a quick overview of SimpliSafe’s monitoring plans:

One last note: SimpliSafe doesn’t require long-term contracts. That means you can freely switch between self-monitoring and professional monitoring. Want professional monitoring while you’re on vacation in July and then jump back to self-monitoring in August? You can do that. You can also purchase a system, self-monitor for now, and add professional monitoring when you can afford it.

The SimpliSafe Camera Experience

To assess the value of SimpliSafe’s security cameras, you need a firsthand account of how they work in a SimpliSafe security system. That’s why we bought a system with all three cameras — so we could report back to you. Here’s what we found.

Installing SimpliSafe Security Cameras

DIY installation is the norm in home security systems these days, and most companies have perfected the camera installation process. We rarely come across a camera that takes more than half an hour to set up. Our Wyze Cam, for instance, took no more than five minutes.

That said, SimpliSafe is the easiest to install. After downloading the app, all we had to do was put the camera where we wanted it, turn it on, and connect it to our Wi-Fi. The whole process took us less than one minute. The Wireless Outdoor Camera took five to ten minutes since we mounted it above our garage.

All of SimpliSafe’s cameras take a refreshingly simple approach to the way they work. Most of their tech works on its own. For instance, the AI capabilities in the Wireless Outdoor Camera are there for SimpliSafe’s monitoring agents to handle threats for you. And the Intruder Intervention capabilities of the Wireless Indoor Camera allow SimpliSafe’s monitoring agents to tell you exactly what you need to do during an alarm to stay safe.

We set up our SimpliSafe Wireless Indoor Camera on the mantle in our living room.

One thing to bear in mind is that the Wired Indoor Camera is the only camera sold by SimpliSafe that can work as a standalone device. To use the Wireless Indoor or Outdoor Cameras, you’ll need a SimpliSafe Base Station and Keypad. If you want standalone cameras, check out our roundup of the best home security cameras.

SimpliSafe Security Camera Performance

Let’s be honest. SimpliSafe cameras have never been special from a technical standpoint. At least meet industry standards now, with 1080p HD resolution, night vision capabilities, and two-way talk. They’re also dependable, easy to set up, and simple to use.

A great camera isn’t always about technical specifications, though. Where SimpliSafe cameras really shine is in how they are monitored.

Let’s start with SimpliSafe’s AI, built into both the Indoor and Outdoor cameras. It can distinguish between people, pets, and cars. That reduces false alarms significantly. You can still get pet notifications if you use your camera as a pet cam or car alerts when someone drives up your driveway. The key is you only get those alerts if you want them.

SimpliSafe cameras also make it easy to respond to an alert. As soon as one arrives, you swipe through to the app and pull up the camera’s livestream. In addition, all three of SimpliSafe’s cameras include two-way talk, so you can speak to whoever’s in front of the camera.

In the SimpliSafe app, we could add our cameras and view a snapshot of each camera’s live feed before clicking into the stream.

To be fair, these kinds of features are becoming more common across the home security industry. They’re certainly valuable, but they’re not special.

What SimpliSafe offers that few systems out there are offering is affordable video verification monitoring. You have to sign up for one of SimpliSafe’s professional monitoring plans that are surprisingly cheap. With one of those plans in place, these cameras become a complete industry game-changer.

As a starting point, the AI in these cameras lets monitoring agents know any time they spot something out of the ordinary. Agents then use captured images to verify emergencies with emergency personnel, getting them on site as fast as possible. That’s available with SimpliSafe’s Core plan, which costs around $32 a month.

You can also add Active Guard protection. Active Guard monitors don’t simply alert emergency personnel when they see activity on camera. They also intervene in the situation. They use two-way audio to let trespassers know they’re being watched, sound an alarm, and activate the camera’s spotlight to scare them off.

When you sign up for SimpliSafe’s Pro Plan — at around $50 a month — you get Active Guard between 8:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. Sign up for SimpliSafe’s Pro Plus plan — around $80 a month — and you get Active Guard 24/7.

It’s worth noting that SimpliSafe offers other monitoring options. You can self-monitor for free, but you can’t save video footage unless you subscribe to their $10 per month plan. Or you can add professional sensor monitoring — monitors don’t check camera feeds but can summon emergency services if a sensor goes off — for $22 a month.

Keep in mind, though, that these lower-cost plans don’t make full use of SimpliSafe’s camera features. Given the cost of both the Indoor, Outdoor, and Video Doorbell models, we suggest you buy your cameras from another company if you’re not planning to sign up for a Core, Pro, or Pro Plus plan.

Customer Service

In our experience, SimpliSafe customer service is rock-solid. Their Help Center is pretty robust, and the brand also has service channels via live chat, email, user forums, and good old-fashioned phone calls. We did come across some unflattering reviews citing long wait times, but we never waited more than a few minutes to get a friendly and professional agent on the line.

Money-Back Guarantee

SimpliSafe’s 60-day, money-back guarantee happens to be one of the better guarantees in the business. And unlike most, they’ll even pay for your return shipping. Not bad. Take note that if you buy SimpliSafe equipment from a third-party seller, their 60-day, money-back guarantee does not apply.

Standout Features of SimpliSafe’s Cameras

As standalone pieces of equipment, we wouldn’t be too impressed with SimpliSafe’s cameras. The way they work with an overall SimpliSafe security system with professional monitoring like we discussed earlier is what makes them stand out the most. It’s not all they have to offer, though. Here are our favorite features of SimpliSafe’s cameras for protecting our home and family:

Stainless Steel Privacy Shutter

Like we mentioned, the stainless steel privacy shutter on both the indoor cameras ensures our home stays private while we’re in it. Every time we get home, we switch the cameras to “off” in the mobile app to activate the shutter. Then, we switch it to “on” when we leave to open it back up. The privacy shutter also opens up during alarm events.

Intelligent Motion Detection

All of SimpliSafe’s cameras come with some way to distinguish between motion events. Even the Wireless Indoor Camera helps eliminate false alarms by distinguishing between humans and pets. We found out it was still triggered by our large dog, but the Wireless Indoor Camera and Outdoor Camera both got rid of this false alarm with their AI capabilities.

High-Quality Internal Microphones

Every SimpliSafe camera has a built-in microphone that lets you hear what’s happening in your home, even while you’re away. Of course, if you want to record and store that audio, you have to sign up for SimpliSafe’s Cloud subscription service.

DIY Installation

Nobody does DIY quite like SimpliSafe. Remember, the company was founded to offer simple security solutions for renters. The do-it-yourself installation of SimpliSafe’s cameras takes about 3 minutes from start to finish, with the Wireless Outdoor Camera taking a few extra minutes to install its base plate. In our experience, it really couldn’t be easier.

Lifetime Warranty

SimpliSafe’s warranty is pretty generous compared to the rest of the industry. At a minimum they meet the industry standard of a one-year warranty. But, that expands to a three-year warranty if you subscribe to a Standard Monitoring or Self-Monitoring plan and a lifetime warranty with a Core, Pro, or Pro Plus monitoring plan.

Smart Home Integrations and Monitoring

We found SimpliSafe to be somewhat lacking when it came to customizations with smart home devices. But again, the brand is all about keeping things simple, and this is just part of their business model.

Here we are making sure the privacy screen on our SimpliSafe Wireless Indoor Camera is closed.

Are SimpliSafe Cameras A Good Option?

When testing security cameras, we consider several critical factors like security, privacy, and price. And SimpliSafe’s cameras did well in all those categories. They all have necessary security features — smart motion detection, clear video, and two-way audio with the premium cameras featuring AI capabilities and top-notch integration into SimpliSafe’s monitoring services. And with deals that regularly include free cameras with any new system, it all adds up to make SimpliSafe’s cameras a good all-around option.

SimpliSafe Add-Ons

In addition to their affordable kits, SimpliSafe does offer a few add-ons, like a smart lock and video doorbell called the Video Doorbell Pro. Here are their offerings and what you can expect to pay:

A Snapshot of SimpliSafe

The SimpliSafe story is always a fun one to tell. The company was founded in 2006 by Harvard business students who were looking for a solution to prevent break-ins. They quickly realized no security system offered true DIY installation and no contracts. So they got to tinkering, and they soon created SimpliSafe. Ever since its inception, SimpliSafe has been a go-to alarm system for dorm-dwellers and renters. And from what we’ve seen, the brand fills a hole in the market for no-nonsense home security.

Final Thoughts on SimpliSafe’s Cameras

The bottom line is that SimpliSafe’s cameras work very nicely with SimpliSafe’s security systems. The premium wireless cameras can’t work without a SimpliSafe system, and we’d recommend alternatives like the Ring Indoor Camera we reviewed to a standalone SimpliCam.

The bottom line is that SimpliSafe’s cameras work very nicely with SimpliSafe’s security systems, but they don’t work at all as standalone cameras. Thankfully, SimpliSafe’s security system is one of the best. They offer easy installation, high-quality equipment, and affordable prices. You can get a whole SimplISafe security system for less than one of Vivint’s premium security cameras. (Vivint happens to be really impressive in its own right, though. Take a look at our full Vivint system analysis for more info.) Even when adding a SimpliSafe camera or two, you’re not paying much more for a full SimpliSafe system than you would for an individual camera from Vivint, and you get so much more.

Of course, if SimpliSafe’s cameras are too pricey for you, there are other options. There are loads of home security brands like Ring, Blink, and Zmodo that have plenty of camera options in the sub-$100 range. If that’s what you’re looking for, check out our list of the best cheap cameras.

It’s just that sometimes a whole system is better than the sum of its parts.

SimpliSafe Cameras FAQs