Home security systems differ in ways you can’t see, such as the reliability of their sensors and their tech support services. These differences came to light in our first-ever survey on home security systems owned by more than 11,000 Consumer Reports members. We used those results to create our first home security system satisfaction ratings.
Below you’ll find the top four home security system brands for each of two categories: professionally monitored systems and systems that you monitor yourself.
Some brands, such as Ring and SimpliSafe, allow you to choose whether you want professional monitoring and, as a result, appear in both categories with slightly different scores. The survey results also include data on systems that are only composed of security cameras and/or video doorbells and lack traditional alarm system hardware (such as door/window sensors and sirens).
The results below show overall satisfaction ratings and scores for three individual attributes: value for price paid, pricing transparency, and tech support. Members also rated other attributes of their systems, such as how reliable the alarms and sensors were, how helpful alerts or notifications were, and—for professionally monitored systems—satisfaction with the monitoring service. To see all of these scores, check out our home security system satisfaction ratings.
If you need help understanding what to look for in a system, see our in-depth home security system buying guide.
