SimpliSafe Home Security review: (on CNET)
Simply a better way to secure your home
By: Ry Crist Reviewed: December 9, 2013 Updated: February 14, 201
Do-it-yourself home security options seem to be growing more numerous by the day, and we’ve tested a lot of them. None of them have left us quite as impressed as SimpliSafe. With its wide variety of easy-to-install sensors, SimpliSafe protects your home in a way that’s comprehensive and yet also remarkably user-friendly. The system is totally wireless and designed to keep running even if the power gets cut, and unlike most other DIY security kits, SimpliSafe features both live monitoring and a cellular backup. If something’s amiss at home, you can count on your system to keep you and the authorities notified, no matter what.
SimpliSafe offers five different packages with a varying assortments of sensors, ranging in price from $229.96 to $539.85. That’s quite a bit compared with other DIY options like the iSmartAlarm Preferred Package or Oplink Security’s AlarmShield package, both of which cost $199. Also, unlike iSmartAlarm or Viper Home, SimpliSafe charges monthly fees in order to unlock fairly basic features.
You’ll need to pay $19.99 per month in order to receive SMS and e-mail alerts, and if you want to control your system from your smartphone, you’ll need to increase that to $24.99 a month. Even if you aren’t interested in any of that, you’ll still be paying $14.99 a month for the live monitoring and the cellular backup (you also have the option of foregoing the cellular connection and live monitoring altogether for a fee-free local alarm, but that isn’t an approach I would recommend).
With so many fee-free competitors, I was initially skeptical of SimpliSafe’s value, but then I installed and tested a system for myself. The setup process was as easy as I’ve seen from any home security offering, and once I was up and running, each sensor aced my tests. The more I used the system, the more it impressed me with its thorough and thoughtful security coverage. By the time I was finished, SimpliSafe had me fully won over. It’s an outstanding value, and a deserving winner of our Editors’ Choice award.