#1 - Guardian Protection
Overall Score: 8.8 / 10
Customer Score: 4.5 / 5 (4,000+ customer reviews)
Professional Monitoring: $34.95/month
Equipment Fee: $199 - $499
Contract: 36 months
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Get a Quote on Guardian Protection Pricing
Get QuoteGuardian Protection began as a more traditional home security company (founded in 1950) and has since begun to make the transition into smart home security systems for homes and businesses.
It really is an excellent home security company.
One of the only reasons that Guardian isn’t ranked #1 overall is because of its limited availability — as of now (February 2021), Guardian Protection only provides home security to 11 states (listed below).
Guardian Protection only offers home security equipment and services to customers in the following states/territories:
There are many things to say about Guardian Protection, but nothing beats the thousands of positive home security reviews the company has received over the years.
Having received over 4,000 customer reviews on BestCompany.com, the popular security solution has maintained an impressive 4.5/5 rating with a high volume of reviews (companies with this many reviews generally have trouble keeping scores higher than about 4.2).
Despite average monthly prices, the Guardian Protection brings two excellent qualities to the table that differentiates it from other home security companies: 1) excellent customer service and 2) a high-quality security system.
Another bonus to choosing Guardian Protection is that they make a point to respond to, address, and resolve customer concerns. The few complaints that they receive result in a company representative reaching out and escalating concerns to superiors.
Positive Customer Review Sentiment:
- Company Trustworthiness
- Quality of Product
- Customer Service
- Value for Your Money
Negative Customer Review Sentiment:
- Sparse Mention of Equipment Malfunction
- Installation Complaints
#2 - Cove
Overall Score: 9.2 / 10
Customer Score: 4.8 / 5 (200+ customer reviews)
Professional Monitoring: $15/month
Equipment Fee: Free (Optional)
Contract: No Contract
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
See Cove Deals & Discounts
Visit SiteBecause Cove is a relatively new home security provider in the industry, it hasn’t received nearly as many reviews or attention as some of the more established traditional home security companies.
However, Cove’s being new in home security has been advantageous. The company does not send salesmen out to peddle their product and, as such, have not received the same caliber of negative feedback that other smart home companies have received.
Cove provides clear upfront pricing and relies completely on its website to drive product sales — this means that the company has made it a point to make the product easy to use and install.
Customers consistently cite the ease of use as a main point of satisfaction. Cove may not have the most thorough home security system in the industry, but it is certainly a great system for apartments, small businesses, and smaller homes.
For example, compare Cove’s indoor-centric security system to Vivint’s all-encompassing smart home security system. You’ll see the main difference is that Cove is meant to be cheap and easy while Vivint or ADT’s systems are meant to completely cover your home’s security with alarms from top to bottom.
We highly recommend Cove security.
Positive Customer Review Sentiment:
- Company Trustworthiness
- Affordability
- Ease of Installation and Use
- Excellent Customer Service
Negative Customer Review Sentiment:
- Website Complaints
- Equipment Malfunction
#3 - Frontpoint
Overall Score: 8.1 / 10
Customer Score: 4.2 / 5 (2,700+ customer reviews)
Professional Monitoring: $44.99/month
Equipment Fee: $99+
Deals: Free Indoor Camera
Contract: 36 months
Equipment Fee: $99+
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Check out Frontpoint Security
Visit SiteFrontpoint offers professional monitoring services starting at $44.99/month, which is almost exactly average when compared to the rest of the industry.
Where Frontpoint's pricing really shines is in the upfront cost. Because you can customize your system how you like, you control the pricing.
It is possible to pay as little as $99 upfront, but again, prices are likely going to be slightly higher for more complex home security requirements.
Similar to all other companies on this list, home security reviews for Frontpoint are outstanding. Frontpoint has received 4.2 stars out of 5 total from over 2,700 customers — that’s an outstanding ratio.
We highly recommend Frontpoint because its customers highly recommend it.
Positive Customer Review Sentiment (57% of all reviews were 5 stars):
- Company Trustworthiness
- Excellent Customer Service
- Easy to Set Up & Use
Negative Customer Review Sentiment (7% of all reviews were 1 star):
- Camera Malfunctions
- Occasions of Poor Customer Service
#4 - Vivint
Overall Score: 9.7 / 10
Customer Score: 3.8 / 5
Professional Monitoring: $29.99/month
Equipment Fee: Free (Optional)
Contract: No Contract
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Check out Vivint Smart Home
Get QuoteVivint gives you an awesome choice (one we love) — and it doesn’t appear enough in the home security industry.
You can either pay for your smart security equipment upfront or opt for no upfront fees.
What does this mean?
If you pay for your equipment upfront, there is no contract requirement; contracts are the number #1 most complained-about feature for home security companies, so this is a huge advantage to customers.
There is no risk of getting locked into an expensive contract and eliminates the possibility of paying ridiculous cancellation fees to switch companies.
Aside from the company’s payment policies, the equipment itself is high quality, as is reported by Vivint customers.
Vivint has a lower overall customer satisfaction score than Cove, the #2 rated company on this list, but is a much bigger brand and has many more customer reviews than most other companies — lower overall ratings are expected with larger companies.
We recommend customers look closely at Vivint reviews to compare the good to the bad. For now, we will offer a simple overview of customer review sentiment as it stands (as of February 2021):
Positive Customer Review Sentiment:
- Company Trustworthiness
- Affordability
- Ease of Installation and Use
- Excellent Customer Service
Negative Customer Review Sentiment:
- Website Complaints
- Equipment Malfunction
Which Home Security System is Best
There are so many ways to determine which home security company provides the best home security system.
Just one example is whether you should trust experts to review your home security system or customer reviews. On one hand, customer reviews can be faked and suppressed while expert reviews can be heavily biased.
Fortunately, we at IYHS found a way to combine the best from both worlds to find out which company really is the best overall.
Though Guardian Protection is the #1 home security company if we look solely at customer reviews from BestCompany.com, Vivint Smart Home is the #1 home security company overall based on a combination of the following criteria:
- Expert reviews.
- Customer reviews.
- Pricing, fees, & discounts.
- Company experience & reputation.
- Customer service quality.
- Equipment quality.
