Modern security systems include an array of sensors and hubs to help manage access to your home or specific spots inside it. They offer traditional features such arming/disarming, sirens and options to contact professionals, as well as advanced tricks such as app controls, face recognition and geofencing.

I’ve spent years testing the latest security kits from top brands such as Simplisafe, Arlo and ADT to find which are worthwhile and what you need to know before you buy.

What is the best overall home security system?

We’ve tested systems for more than 180 hours, including the latest kits and updates for 2026, and nothing beats SimpliSafe’s starter kit as the top choice for the average homeowner. SimpliSafe’s hardware packages start at $250 and go up to $734. However, we’ve observed that there are often deals that let you buy this security system for a discount. It’s incredibly DIY friendly while also offering robust monitoring plans and sharp new AI features for those who want them. Anyone can install its compact sensors, including renters, thanks to the adhesive options.

Our other options include kits for every kind of house. If you want a modular security kit you can easily build out over a couple of years, Vivint is your best choice. We also have an affordable, compact model with Arlo’s multi-use sensor system — which doesn’t require a contract is a great fit for renters — plus more picks for gifts, excellent existing smart home support and many other needs.

Best home security systems of 2026

Vivint’s latest system requires a professional installation. / Vivint

Best expandable smart security system

Vivint HomeProtect Security System

• 
  
  
  Numerous add-on options for thermostats, smart locks, cameras and more
• 
  
  
  No contract required

• 
  
  
  High upfront charges and required professional installation
• 
  
  
  Difficult to decipher pricing without having to give your email address
• 
  
  
  Monitoring can be expensive, starting at $25
• 
  
  
  No current support for home platforms like Alexa or Google Home

Why I like it: Vivint gives you a polished experience with third-party device integrations, and it doesn’t require a contract. The starter package includes only a keypad module (upgradeable to a touchscreen) and a couple of sensors, but Vivint lets you upgrade to a variety of other devices over time.

That’s great news if you’d like to add a compatible smart lock, video doorbell, thermostat or security camera system on your terms and when the time is right for you. HomeProtect can You can also tailor your budget by choosing what to buy now and what to add later. Vivint is the only brand that takes this approach, and it offers one of the best starter kits for building out a system over time.

With professional monitoring ranging from starting at $25 per month, this system is more affordable than services such as ADT and includes valuable extras such as video storage. That said, these are still among the highest subscription fees on our list. It’s becoming less common for security brands to charge this much for professional monitoring, but if you want a team keeping an eye on your home, you’ll have to pay for it.

Who is this for: Those who want to start with the basics and add a host of smart devices over time.

Who shouldn’t buy it: People who want to avoid high subscription costs or prefer to self-install their security system themselves, and buyers who prefer to use central platforms like Google Home to control things.

Installation

Professional installation

Contract required

No

Voice assistant

N/A

Additional fees

Monitoring starting at $25 per month

Service bundles

N/A

Battery backup

Varies from 6 to 24 hours depending on system

Factors to consider when choosing a home security system

When choosing a home security system for your home, you may be tempted to start by deciding between a DIY setup or professionally installed systems with monitoring services. Remember to make your decision after considering the equipment, installation, monitoring options and other features you want. Here are some bits of information to keep in mind about these parameters when shopping around.

Equipment choices

Do you just need to keep watch over your entryways? A good video doorbell for your front door and an outdoor camera covering the back may be all you need; easy to install and monitor yourself. If you want to keep closer tabs on your home inside and out with 24/7 monitoring and quick access to emergency response services, you’ll want a more robust system. DIY and professional brands offer home security bundles with most, if not all, of the equipment you’d need to get started and the ability to add single devices as needed.

Smart home and AI

Most home security devices are compatible with Alexa and Google Home smart hubs, but if you prefer Apple HomeKit or another smart home ecosystem, you may have to do a bit more shopping and comparing to find a system compatible with your existing smart home devices. Don’t fret over compatibility too much as Matter is making it easier to connect previously non-compatible devices (although it hasn’t quite come for security cameras yet).

Smart home features are also always changing, especially with AI. Just in the past two years, SimpliSafe has added AI face and movement detection to help its monitoring agents, ADT has added support for Nest’s familiar face AI recognition features and Arlo has increased services to include AI detection of fires, barking, screaming and more. You’ll have to pay a lot more for these features and consider your own privacy if you’re interested in the cutting-edge upgrades.

Installation

Keep in mind all that equipment will need to be installed. While there isn’t much to installing a security camera or even a wired video doorbell, whole-home systems can be a bit more demanding to install and set up. Some are DIY-friendly and use adhesive to position devices without leaving permanent marks but not all systems do this. If you’d rather leave that to an expert and have them walk you through how to use the system, a professional home security service may be the way to go.

Monitoring and alerts

Virtually all home security systems allow for self-monitoring, likely via an app on your phone. They’ll also send you push notifications when there’s an event, such as when a package is delivered to your doorstep. Basic sensors can send alerts about what specific sensor was triggered or tampered with, while adding a camera allows for more complex recognition. You can customize these alerts to get only the information you want (such as only when a person is detected), while most will automatically ignore things like vehicles.

Professional monitoring and emergency features

Consider whether you want to be in charge of all the monitoring or if you’d like some support. Most systems allow you to add a professional monitoring plan, some even require it from the beginning. These services often cost more than $30 per month and sometimes much more if AI features are added.

More advanced features, such as facial recognition, glass break sensors and communication with emergency services may not be available from all manufacturers and devices. Consider the level of monitoring you want, and who you want to do it, along with the emergency response options, when choosing a home security system.

Expandability

Most home security systems allow you to buy single sensors or compatible devices and add them, one at a time, whenever you want to upgrade or address a specific problem. But they go about this in very different ways. Some only allow you to purchase its own brand devices, while others are compatible with a variety of third-party smart home devices. Some have very limited add-on options, while others have many choices. No matter what you decide, we recommend checking out the add-on options on a security system website to see what potential upgrades will look like.

Initial costs

We listed “cost” last for a reason. A complete home security system will likely cost you at least a couple of hundred bucks, so be prepared for that. There’s the potential to spend a lot more on equipment or a lot less. Also, keep in mind that the size of the system greatly affects the cost. Starter systems like many we listed here typically cost between $150 and $300, and allow you to add other compatible devices over time. Larger systems with 10 devices or more will cost at least several hundred dollars and can go up to $1,000 or more, depending on the tech that’s included.

Ongoing costs

Ongoing costs can carry a bit more weight when choosing the best security system. Expect ongoing monthly fees from a professional service and possibly a contract to lock you into those fees for a year or two (although we favored picks without a required contract). Signing a contract may not be ideal, but it may also come with free equipment or installation and lower upfront costs.

If you’re comfortable with self-monitoring, DIY systems may not come with any ongoing costs. Monthly subscriptions (without a contract) for cloud storage, enhanced features and possibly even professional monitoring are typically an option with DIY systems, often for lower monthly fees than professional services.

Privacy and security

Always look for a brand that’s going to keep your data safe and has a good track record of security, encryption and protection against data breaches. That’s not always easy — many security companies have had issues in the past with breaches, privacy violations or even employees spying through home security cameras.

We look at a company’s current practices, track record and how they’ve been improving in the past few years when making recommendations. SimpliSafe is consistently one of the standout performers in security, which is one reason they earned a top spot on our list. While Ring has had missteps in the past, it’s improved in recent years and has even retracted its policy on providing police with video footage, so we feel comfortable recommending Ring at this time.

How we test home security systems

Hands-on testing is core to our evaluations of any home security products. In short, when it comes to the best home security systems, we pay special attention to the user experience, the promised features, reliability and overall value, along with a few other elements. We do the testing in a real home environment over at least a full week. 

Installation process (and uninstallation)

In our tests we work with local professionals to get the professional installation experience, and tackle DIY installations ourselves. When a system offers both, we typically try to get some self-install products ourselves to experiment with along with the DIY installation. We look for ease of use, installation methods and how well sensors fit on sometimes-cramped doors or windows, among other factors.

We also look at how easy sensors are to uninstall. What if you want to move one, take one off for a while, or dismantle the whole system? So we check these factors, as well as disconnection options on the app.

Sensor performance

These tests include testing sensors at common access points, seeing how systems arm and disarm and finding out how voice controls and smart device integration work with the app. Along the way, we keep a careful eye on durability and design quality so we avoid recommending any shoddy products.

Alerts, triggers and reliability

Once sensors are set up, we mess with them. We arm and disarm the system, test movement for motion sensors and see how easily access sensors pick up on vibration or tampering, depending on what they’re rated to do. Along the way we watch for any issues with delayed sensor alerts and high latency, sensors that don’t respond as they should and sensors that are over-responsive. When possible, we also take sensors for a little trip to make sure they work at acceptable distances (30 yards, etc.).

App experiences

Home security system apps should be easy to use and fairly intuitive. This can be a struggle, because these apps tend to be particularly complicated and filled with new settings and features to learn. We run through all of them and see how effective it is to customize arm/disarm times, grace periods, new devices, geofencing, home routines and so much more. We test alert customized, disconnect options and how easy it is to shut down your service through the app, too.

Smart home integrations

If home security systems work with third-party devices, we get some for testing and see how easy it is to set them up and tie third-party devices to routines. We watch for bugs and disconnect issues, which can be common in these situations.

To read more about our review process, check out our in-depth article on how we test home security systems and services.

What’s new in home security systems?

Three trends in particular interest us in the latest home security developments:

Continuing Matter support: As Matter and Thread continue to spread through the smart home, more and more security systems are adopting the new standards, which improve security and allow for more flexible control of systems. It’s a slow process, partly because these brands have their own platforms for system management and partly because Matter has taken a long time to release protocols for key parts of home security such as video cameras. But it’s coming, and Matter support is now something people should be looking for in home security systems.

More face recognition: From SimpliSafe to Google Nest and Rong, more security systems are adopting face recognition as a way to manage access. That means that users can add a profile of faces and let video doorbells or home cameras recognize faces and respond accordingly — through customized alerts or by unlocking a smart lock for certain people. Privacy concerns remain about using face profiles, especially outside of your family members, but this technology is here to stay and is expanding.

New collaborations: Home security brand collaborations come and go, which can affect support for your system. Notably, ADT recently ended much of its collaboration with Google Nest and Yale, while Yale is pursuing its Nest support independently with new devices.

Other home security systems we’ve tested

Besides the systems above, we’ve tested many of the top competitors. Here are the more recent options that didn’t make our list.

Abode Iota: Iota’s all-in-one approach just wasn’t as attractive to us as the whole security system. You may as well get an advanced security camera instead of this model.

Frontpoint: Frontpoint’s system is reliable, and its hardware is reasonably priced, but its $45 monthly monitoring fee is too expensive.

Kangaroo: Kangaroo is incredibly affordable but we found its video doorbell to be especially poor and the system design has started to feel very dated.

Cove: Cove Home Security, despite reasonable hardware prices, fell to an overly restrictive subscription model that doesn’t allow for self-monitoring or app access without significant monthly fees.

ADT: ADT’s older system, before ADT+, is inferior in nearly every way to the advances ADT+ and the latest system have made including self-install options, a superior app and somewhat more lucid pricing. We expect the older kits to be discontinued.

Ring Alarm Pro: The Pro version of Ring’s sytem includes an Eero router, which is nice if you don’t already have a Wi-Fi 6 router but most homes already have routers, and if you want to upgrade it’s much smarter to get a standalone router that’s exactly what you want rather than one that’s bundled with a home security system.

Wyze Home Security System Sense v2 (Currently unavailable): As for Wyze, we appreciate its excellent budget home security offerings, but we’re holding off on recommending it at this time. Wyze has been struggling with frequent security vulnerabilities in recent years, a problem it doesn’t seem to have under control. If we see signs that Wyze is making strides in privacy and security, we’ll consider its newest systems for our list.

Recent updates

Winter 2024/2025 updates: After a very competent testing phase we added ADT+ as our new professional system suggestion, and gave Arlo’s compact, all-in-one option a more prominent position because it can fit so many needs.

Tyler Lacoma

Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations.

With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends.

See full bio

Ry Crist

Former Senior Editor / Reviews – Labs

Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor from 2013 to 2024, Ry’s beats included smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.

See full bio