Frontpoint Security Review

We recommend this plan. It includes professional monitoring mobile app access (so you don’t have to monitor your system yourself), smart home integration (so you can hook everything to your voice assistant), and cloud storage (so you can access your video clips easier)–all the things we look for in home security subscriptions. It also includes an identity theft protection service. Frankly, we think that it is brilliant. Identity theft protection is one more way to keep your property safe.

The only downside to the monitoring? The cost. Frontpoint makes Vivint (the sticker-shock champion) look like a deal. All of Vivints plans cost less than Frontpoint! But with everything Frontpoint is offering, at least your dollar’s hard at work.

Frontpoint equipment is pricey. Usually it starts at $400 and goes up to $800 for preset equipment packages. Or, if you want to create your own package, you can spend an unlimited amount of money. Yay?

But Frontpoint does offset those costs in some ways. It often runs sales for its smallest package, the Starter Pack. That means you'll probably see a steep discount. 

Once you’ve bought your equipment, you need to pay for Frontpoint monthly monitoring to use it. That’ll cost you about $50 a month. We won’t lie–this is one of the most expensive monitoring plans in home security. But you get lots of features for the cost, including Frontpoint ID Protect, which Frontpoint says is worth $24.99 a month.

Frontpoint says its identity theft protection service is worth about half of its monthly monitoring cost. That’s hard to verify because we’re not sure exactly what the protection covers. If it includes features like theft insurance, lost wallet assistance, credit reports, SSN and bank account monitoring, and medical ID protection, then it’s a good value for the price. If not, then Frontpoint’s overcharging for the service.

Either way, some customers would probably appreciate the option of losing the ID theft protection and just paying half the monitoring cost.

Good news! Frontpoint doesn’t have a lot of fees. Or … any, really.

Since you install everything yourself, you skip any installation fees. And Frontpoint doesn’t charge any activation fees either, which we love. (Those fees always seem like such a racket.) Plus, since Frontpoint doesn't do contracts anymore, you don't have to worry about cancellation fees.

Frontpoint offers three different packages, plus the option to create your own customized package.

The Starter Pack is a super deal at its current $129 price tag. The other packages? Not so much.

Some of Frontpoint’s equipment appears to be unique stuff you can get only with Frontpoint, while some of it is generic items from Alarm.com and other providers.

Honestly, we think everything should be state-of-the-art and super special at these prices. Still, the generic stuff gets the job done.

Frontpoint life hack: the best deal is to order The Starter Pack package and then add any additional sensors you need on the side.

Frontpoint offers quite a bit of security equipment and smart home devices. Here’s what you can choose from with Frontpoint:

• Hub
• Touchscreen
• Keypad
• Door/window sensor
• Motion sensor
• Glass break sensor
• Garage door tilt sensor
• Smoke and heat sensor
• Carbon monoxide sensor
• Flood sensor
• Keychain remote
• Panic pendant
• Smart door lock
• Outdoor smart plug
• Wireless light control (smart plug)
• Smart thermostat
• Indoor camera
• Premium indoor camera
• Outdoor camera
• Doorbell camera
• Yard sign
• Window decal
• Door sticker

Some folks are skeptical of DIY, wireless security systems. To soothe any doubts you may have, Frontpoint provides these features:

• Cellular backup. If your Frontpoint Hub experiences an interruption in its cell service, it can use your Wi-Fi as a backup if you’ve opted in to that feature.
• Backup battery. Your Frontpoint system will continue running for 24 hours after a power loss.
• Crash and Smash™ protection. If someone breaks into your house and tries to smash your blaring security system, they can’t. Well, they can–it’s not indestructible–but it won’t do them any good. The abrupt signal loss will trigger a break-in alert at Frontpoint’s monitoring centers.
• Data encryption. Frontpoint cameras use 256-bit AES encryption to prevent unwanted actors from accessing your clips.¹

Frontpoint has a panic pendant, which is essentially a panic button that you can wear at all times.

A panic pendant is a valuable precaution if you believe you’re in immediate danger (like you have a stalker or are receiving death threats), but the main use for this portable button is as a medical alert. If you’re prone to seizures, falls, heart attacks, or any other health issues where you’ll need immediate help, you might want to look into one of these.

A smart plug is one of the top smart home devices we recommend. But while most smart plugs work indoors, Frontpoint went the extra mile to create an outdoor plug. It’s perfect for turning your holiday lights on and off!

Frontpoint has five cameras:

• Indoor camera
• Premium indoor camera
• Outdoor camera
• Wired video doorbell camera
• Wireless video doorbell camera

Frontpoint’s indoor cameras are pretty good. The indoor camera checks off the essential camera boxes, like night vision for seeing in the dark and motion detection to catch suspicious movement,  while the premium indoor camera has some extra-special features. Most notably, this camera has outbound calling, where your kid can just touch a button and the camera will call you on your phone through the Frontpoint app.

That’s a feature we’ve only ever seen from Vivint’s indoor camera before, so it’s pretty cool that Frontpoint has it on board. It gives your kids an easy way to reach you without a landline telephone.

As for the outdoor cameras? The regular outdoor camera is a little meh. It doesn’t have person detection or vehicle detection, which are becoming more essential in outdoor cameras. But it does have a feature called Perimeter Guard™. Perimeter Guard™ uses lights and sirens to scare off people and animals in the camera’s view. No one’s gonna trespass on its watch.

Frontpoint's wired doorbell camera, a Skybell Slim II from Alarm.com, is far from the best video doorbell. It doesn’t have package, people, vehicle, or animal detection, and there aren’t any customizable motion zones. But with its motion detection, the camera will definitely alert you when visitors and intruders alike show up at your door—which is, after all, its primary purpose.

Our tester Steve Siems’s main complaint  He had to keep calling Frontpoint customer support to get basic features (like two-way audio) enabled. So keep that in mind because you may run into the same issue.

Frontpoint's wireless doorbell camera is also from Alarm.com. You'll pay about $100 more, but it's a nice renter-friendly option for those who don't want to deal with hardwiring.

Frontpoint’s home automation gets a thumbs up from us. The equipment works with a few different protocols, and the app also has some built-in automation.

Frontpoint has three of the top smart home integrations:

• Amazon Alexa
• Google Assistant
• Z-Wave

You can use voice control with Alexa and Google for Frontpoint commands such as the following:

• Turning lights on and off
• Setting your thermostat
• Closing your garage door
• Locking your smart locks
• Recording camera clips
• Arming your security system

Not familiar with Z-Wave? It’s the connectivity protocol for a lot of smart home devices, especially smart locks and smart bulbs. With this connectivity, you can buy other smart home devices from third parties and connect them to your Frontpoint system. That way, if there’s anything you want that Frontpoint doesn’t have, you can add it to create the perfect smart home setup.

The Frontpoint mobile app is powered by Alarm.com. When our tester Steve tried it, he wasn’t the biggest fan. His main concern was that he couldn’t do everything from the app that he could do from the web portal. So while the app is convenient when you’re on the go, you might want to spend more time with the portal, especially if you’re trying to troubleshoot technical problems.

That’s not to say that the Frontpoint app doesn’t have its uses. The app has a geofencing feature where, if you take your phone out of a preset range, it’ll ask you if you want to set the alarm. That’s a super helpful feature, especially if you’re forgetful.

Frontpoint’s app also comes preloaded with “scenes.” These time- and event-based smart home chains will take care of multiple things at once. For instance, your Away scene will arm your system, and you can also add other actions to it, like turning off the lights and locking the door.

You can also create completely custom scenes.

Frontpoint can be a little deceiving. The product has all the trappings of an elite, expensive, professionally installed system, but it’s actually DIY. That means you’re putting together the whole thing yourself.

Happily, like Pinocchio, Frontpoint’s got no strings. There are no wires and minimal plugs, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get it set up. The sensors even arrive already connected to the hub to save you time.

If you ever have to move and want to take Frontpoint with you, the company will send you a moving kit. That includes 1) a special box in which you can put your equipment during the move and 2) instructions for removing and reinstalling the system.

But if you're still stumped about installation, Frontpoint has a bunch of tutorials and FAQ answers on its website. Or you can call a Frontpoint rep and have them walk you through it.

There’s a reason we say Frontpoint has the best customer service. Frontpoint’s customer service is known for being helpful and friendly. And we see that customer love in everything Frontpoint does from pre-pairing the sensors to providing the moving kit.

The reps work hard to resolve issues and are pretty receptive to customer feedback, even about little things. For example, Frontpoint told us that when customers complained that Frontpoint’s hub light was too bright, Frontpoint released a software update that fixed it.

Frontpoint also has some of the best scores we’ve seen on Trustpilot² and an excellent grade from the BBB.³

But in recent times, we’ve seen a little bit of a downturn. More customers are complaining about how difficult it is to cancel Frontpoint’s month-to-month service. We’re disappointed to hear this but optimistic that Frontpoint will listen to its buyers and remedy the cancellation process soon.

We wouldn’t say Frontpoint is the straight-up best home security system, but we’re confident that it’s earned its place in our top ten list.

Frontpoint security solutions are expensive compared to other companies (especially DIY companies). The system and monitoring are way more expensive than Ring Alarm and SimpliSafe. However, the system has home automation features more comparable to Vivint. Frontpoint also has a better customer service reputation than most of its competitors. 

Frontpoint is a pretty good system that most users will probably like when all's said and done.

• Pricing: Frontpoint costs a ton, but there are some definite perks with that cost, like identity theft protection and cellular backup.
• Equipment: Frontpoint equipment is expensive and not the most unique we’ve tried, but there’s a lot of it to cover different security and smart home needs.
• Home automation: You get a lot of automation from your Frontpoint home security system. It’s compatible with Google, Alexa, and Z-Wave and has some cool built-in features.
• Installation: You’ll install the Frontpoint system yourself, but it's pretty straightforward.
• Customer experience: Frontpoint’s customer experience is legendary because of how it listens to and implements feedback, although you might run into some difficulties when canceling your service. 

Our video reviewer, Steve Siems, thoroughly tested the Frontpoint security system and shared his takeaways with us. We also spent a significant amount of time reading expert reviews, customers reviews, and the Frontpoint alarm system website. Finally, we met with Frontpoint while reps explained their product offerings and updates of 2022.

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