ADT Home Security Review 2024: Pricing, Pros and Cons

Our take: Overall, ADT packages are on the expensive side for what you get compared to other providers, especially for self-setup packages and basic equipment, but the company’s tried-and-true professional monitoring makes their pro-install system a good pick for homeowners.

How does ADT work?

To purchase an ADT system, you visit the company’s website and select a package. The company will mail your equipment.

Pro install

If you choose professional installation, you’ll schedule an appointment for an ADT technician to come to your home and set up the equipment. Appointments may be available as soon as the next day.

A professionally installed ADT system comes with a required professional monitoring contract, typically three years, starting at $44.99 per month.

Self-setup

If you choose self-setup, you’ll follow the instructions provided in the included setup guide. If you need extra help, you can consult the ADT app's virtual assistant feature.

Self-setup systems require at least one month of professional monitoring, starting at $29.99 per month. After the first month, you can call ADT to downgrade to free self-monitoring. Be sure to cancel your plan before the billing cycle ends, though, or you may be charged for a full second month.

How much does ADT cost?

ADT offers three home security system packages, which can be self-setup or professionally installed. The company often runs promotions, discounting self-setup packages with the purchase of one month of professional monitoring, or professionally installed packages with a three-year professional monitoring contract (two years in California).

The prices below are list prices.

You can also choose a “Build Your Own” package. The lowest-priced package possible includes an ADT base hub and one door/window sensor for $269, and you can add on any ADT or Nest devices from there. You can also add on items to customize any existing package.

Authorized dealer pricing

ADT sells equipment directly for do-it-yourself types but also works with third-party dealers that sell and install their systems. These authorized dealers often have their own prices, equipment or apps. In all cases, ADT handles the monitoring.

For example, clicking the “Get Started” button above will take you to ADT dealer Safe Haven, which has different offerings than what’s detailed in this review.

Our experience with ADT

We tested ADT’s Self-Setup Build Your Own package, which comes with one month of required professional monitoring.

What we liked

Easy device setup

The hub had very clear setup instructions, and the devices in a kit come pre-connected so that once you set up the hub, the accessory items (such as a door sensor) are already visible in the ADT app. We just had to pull the battery tab to activate the sensor, which flashed a blue LED light and triggered a two-tone chime noise on the hub. It didn’t take long for the app and hub to connect to Wi-Fi, and there’s not a complicated Wi-Fi setup like some other providers.

Test mode

With a professional monitoring plan, your system will be in “Test mode” for the first seven days so that you can practice triggering alarms without the monitoring center contacting emergency services. We found this feature helpful in testing out the system. Several other providers have a similar feature. With ADT, you can switch to test mode anytime in-app for up to 24 hours.

Easy to arm and disarm

We were able to arm and disarm our system with a custom four-digit passcode in the app or on the hub keypad. With a professional monitoring plan, we could also generate a unique verbal passcode to speak to ADT agents in case of an alarm event to verify our identity, which other professionally monitored systems also have (SimpliSafe calls this a “Safeword”).

Customization

In the ADT app settings, you can set up Alexa or Google Assistant integration, add users, customize alert tones and timing, and add “rules” to automate your home. For example, you can set your system to automatically arm at 10 p.m. every night.

Compared to other providers, the ADT app is very simple; there are only these settings, the buttons to arm and disarm the system and an event history.

Customer service

Each time we contacted customer service during our testing (to inquire about shipment delays, to verify pricing information and to disable professional monitoring after our testing period), we got through to ADT customer service on the phone very quickly, and the agents were helpful, friendly and professional.

What we didn’t like

Multiple apps needed for Nest integration

Google Nest’s security products can integrate with ADT products — but we found the process frustrating. Google Nest cameras and doorbells require both the Google Home app and the Nest app to access video recordings with a Nest Aware subscription. To integrate an ADT alarm system with Nest cameras, you need to connect all three apps. This took almost an hour of attempts and a lot of online help page research, and we were eventually unable to get Google Nest device access in the ADT app.

We had to log into each account several times and enable device sharing in each app. It was also unclear which app or device should be used primarily to control the system.

We were, however, able to connect our Nest Hub with the ADT hub and alarm system, arm and disarm the system from the Nest Hub, and view the ADT devices in the Google Home App.

Some Nest devices aren’t supported

ADT alarm systems integrate with some Nest cameras (mostly newer models) but not all: they won’t connect with the Google Nest Cam Indoor or Outdoor, the Google Nest Hello, or Nest Cam IQ cameras.

When Nest Secure, Google’s own home security line, was discontinued in April 2024, former users were given a credit to replace their systems with ADT alarm equipment, but some were likely unable to connect their older-model Nest cameras (which weren’t discontinued) to their new ADT systems.

Sensor install

ADT’s door sensors come with an adhesive on the back. Like other providers’ sensors, they sometimes take off wall paint when removed.

The magnet part of the door sensor, which sticks onto the moving part of the door to trigger an alarm when it’s opened, had a slim, vertical shape without much surface area to stick onto the door. When we tapped the sensor, it fell off, lost its stick and was hard to reattach.

Shipping and packaging

We had some issues with delivery, which we didn’t have with any other provider we tested. The products were shipped via FedEx, and while the label was marked as created the day after the order, the package didn’t register as “On the way” until 10 days later. It's unclear if the problem was due to ADT or FedEx, but the package was unable to deliver and required a pickup.

Separately, the packaging was a bit excessive for the quantity of items included. Our kit only came with one sensor and the hub, but was shipped in a fairly large box. The package contained a smaller box for “sensors and accessories” that was much bigger than the small sensor inside it.

Alternatives to ADT

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