Best Professionally Installed Security Systems

The biggest benefit of a professionally installed system is not having to go it alone. From installation to troubleshooting appointments to 24/7 professional monitoring, you have help in securing your home.

Companies with professional installation also tend to offer packages that roll security and smart home capabilities or security and camera systems into one affordable bundle.

• Professional monitoring
• Smart home packages
• Plan and package variety
• Security cameras
• Landline options

Professional installation is typically the best fit for users who want a more traditional offering, who don’t want to or don’t feel comfortable installing themselves, and who can make time for the installation.

DIY systems are typically bought online, and you get to choose the equipment type and numbers. Professional systems typically have to be bought through phone calls, and the company may want to do a consultation before giving you a quote. This will typically take a lot of time, and so will the installation. And, since you’ll need to be home while the consultant is there, you’ll need to clear time on your schedule. The consultation and installation can be intrusive, too, so if you don’t like strangers in your home, take that into account.

You’ll also likely lose a lot of control as the consultant will likely take the lead in determining how many security cameras, motion sensors, door sensors, window sensors, smart locks, smoke detectors, and other devices you need.

With a professional security solution, your cost in equipment and monitoring are almost guaranteed to be higher than if you bought a DIY security system. But you’ll automatically get professional monitoring, which is a plus you usually have to pay extra for with DIY alarms. Plus most of the best-reputed security systems are professionally installed, so the higher fees may be buying the power of a well-known brand behind you.

And that’s not all there is to love about Vivint. Vivint offers in-system home automation. You don’t have to put together a piecemeal smart home setup. Although, since the system is compatible with Alexa, Google, and Z-Wave, you aren’t just limited to what Vivint sells either. The company also no longer requires lengthy contracts (if you’re able to pay for the equipment up front).

But Vivint is fairly expensive, especially if you have cameras. If you want local video storage, you have to shell out a couple hundred bucks for the Vivint Smart Drive. Plus, for every camera you add after the first one, you’re paying an extra $5 a month on top of the Smart Home Video plan.

When you add it all up, it can cost even more than ADT’s highest-tier plan, and ADT is far from inexpensive.

Basically, you’ll get some cutting-edge equipment and smart home features from Vivint. It won’t be cheap, though.

You also install the system yourself—just peel and stick—so you don’t have to wait around for professional installers to put in or take out your system. Plus, no holes in your wall.

You can even kinda, sorta self-monitor your SimpliSafe system for free (although all you can do is look at your camera feed and use a SimpliSafe-compatible smart lock, so we recommend paying for professional monitoring).

What are the downsides? Like some of the other systems in this piece, you have to pay to truly use the SimpliSafe app. Even the Standard professional monitoring plan won’t get you much of anything; you have to pay the highest price possible if you want push notifications or to integrate with most smart home devices.

Compared to other professionally installed systems, SimpliSafe’s highest price is low, low, low, but it’s still frustrating that the $15 option isn’t useful for most people.

Also, SimpliSafe isn’t compatible with Z-Wave or Zigbee, making it impossible to directly connect the system to some of the most popular smart light and lock brands.

So, if you want to pay the lowest prices possible, SimpliSafe is an excellent choice. You just need to pay for the higher-tier monitoring to get the best value, and you may not be able to connect this system directly to all your smart home devices.

ADT keeps its equipment prices close to the vest. ADT doesn't charge for equipment, rather the charges are for renting the equipment and the installation of selected devices and services. But you still won't know your bottom line until installation.

ADT still offers a (very affordable) landline plan, which is excellent for rural areas and self-proclaimed Luddites.

However, once you get past the landline plans, there are the cell plans. And those add up. You’ll want to get the Video or Complete plans for access to the cellular app, video recording, or home automation.

In conclusion, ADT will work hard for you with its longstanding brand. Just know that your compensation to the company is definitely going to reflect that.

But there’s a lot about Xfinity Home we find frustrating. The company doesn’t make its contract length or full equipment prices easily accessible. If you want camera recordings, you have to pay $10 a month plus pay for Xfinity internet, making the system much more expensive than it first appears.

And, even though we like the Zigbee compatibility, we’re still raising our eyebrows at the lack of Alexa or Google integration. The lack of standard smart speaker integration cuts out a lot of possibilities for your smart home as a whole.

Finally, the customer service. We know not everyone has a terrible time with Comcast, but people still find them extremely frustrating. Many Xfinity Home (and other Xfinity service) users have made it clear that the customer service is not up to snuff, at least by their standards.

We see this happen a lot with big companies. For instance, ADT and Vivint tend to have a lot more complaints than smaller companies as they serve a larger number of customers and have more room for error. Still . . . for being a smaller home service, Xfinity Home gets an alarmingly large number of complaints. We can’t discount that, even though we like things about this offering.

In short, if you’re an existing or hopeful Xfinity customer, Xfinity Home could be an excellent deal. You just need to know that you may not get the transparency, automation, or customer service of your dreams.

• Vivint puts the smart in smart home, but it costs a lot.
• SimpliSafe has a professional-installation option if you don’t mind the minimal home automation.
• ADT has the best-known name in the biz, but it also costs a pretty penny.
• Xfinity is great if you’re interested in bundling services, though its reputation leaves something to be desired.

If you’re still waffling, check out our roundup of the best home security systems.

We compare and rank home security systems based on five key factors:

1. Price
2. Equipment
3. Smart home integrations
4. Security cameras
5. Customer experience

To decide which professionally installed security systems are best, we give them independent star ratings the first time we review them. Those ratings carry over into other reviews, but they don’t dictate the recommendation order for every list.

For instance, although SimpliSafe has a higher overall star rating than Vivint or ADT, it’s not our first recommendation for people looking for a traditional, professionally installed system.