Today we will be comparing home security providers SimpliSafe and Ring Alarm, and see how they stack up! We’ll go over equipment, monitoring plans, and more!
To keep from having to worry about your home while you are out having a good time, you can purchase a home security solution. There are several really great security systems out on the market currently, and today we will compare SimpliSafe with Ring Alarm.
SimpliSafe Control Panel
The most important piece of any home security system is the control panel. SimpliSafe offers a really nice cellular control panel that has a cone shaped design. The SimpliSafe control panel is cellular control panel which means you don’t need a landline or internet connection for it to work, but it will also connect to your home’s WIFI network a backup. All the functions for the SimpliSafe control panel are controlled through SimpliSafe’s separate keypad or through their app. The SimpliSafe control panel includes an LED indicator light that will change color depending on your system’s status. It also includes audio alerts for system status, devices, and has a built-in siren that will trigger if your system or connected devices detect an event. It has a backup battery just in case the power goes, and it will last up to 24-hours. SimpliSafe’s control panel is only compatible with SimpliSafe products which does limit the expandability of your SimpliSafe system, but SimpliSafe does offer a lot of great their branded equipment for your SimpliSafe system.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option, our home security system at Link Interactive »
Ring Alarm Control Panel
You have probably heard of the name Ring before due to the reputation they have built with their security cameras. Ring, over the years, has released a variety of other smart home camera, and now security products. Ring offers their Ring Alarm system which work by connecting to your home’s WIFI network. It does include a cellular chip as an optional way for you to use their system without the need of an internet connection. Ring is actually on the second generation of their control panel. Their second-generation control panel is small, compact, and has a square shaped design. The control panel includes the famous ring indicator light that will change colors to show different system statutes. The Ring Alarm control panel is controlled through a separate push-button keypad or through the Ring app. The Ring control panel includes a 24-hour backup up battery. It has a built in Z-Wave protocol which means you can expand it include other branded devices such as smart locks. The Ring system has different chime alerts for different security devices that will alert you will these devices have been triggered. If your Ring system or devices detect an event, the system will sound its built-in internal siren.
See our cutting-edge control panel by Qolsys »
Who wins?
SimpliSafe’s and Ring Alarm’s control panels are pretty similar to one another. They both are wireless and come with a cellular chip. They both also have to be controlled via an app or through a separate keypad. The Ring Alarm control panel and SimpliSafe control panel both include LED indicator lights to let you know your different system statuses. However, the Ring Alarm control panel includes a Z-Wave protocol making much more expandable than SimpliSafe’s control panel. For this reason, we are choosing the Ring Alarm as our winner for this category.
SimpliSafe Equipment
SimpliSafe offers any equipment you could need to provide your home with complete protection and then some. All of the basic equipment offered by SimpliSafe is wireless and battery-operated. To protect the entryways to your home SimpliSafe offers door/window, motion, and glass break sensors. Their door/window sensor will alert you to when the doors and windows of your home have been opened. Their motion sensors are pet immune, and they will detect motion in large areas of your home. SimpliSafe’s glass break sensors will listen for the sound of breaking glass, and can distinguish between a plate breaking and actually glass breaking in your home. SimpliSafe offers extra keypads, key fob remotes, and panic buttons as another way to control your system. Their keypads are battery-operated and can control your system completely including adding and removing devices. Their key fob remote lets you quickly arm and disarm your system with the touch of a button while their panic button will immediately trigger your system and send emergency services. To protect your home from the elements SimpliSafe offers smoke, temperature, CO, and water leak sensors. These sensors will look for various rises in various environmental dangers such as smoke, rises/drops in temperature, floods/leaks, and rises in CO gases. When these rises are detected, SimpliSafe’s environmental sensors will make an audible alert while triggering your system. All equipment offered by SimpliSafe is DIY (do it yourself) which means you will need to setup the equipment yourself, but they do offer the option for professional installation for a one-time fee.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive »
Home Automation
SimpliSafe is in the works in developing more home automation and video surveillance equipment that you can add to your SimpliSafe system. Unfortunately, for now SimpliSafe only offers a limited variety of home automation and video surveillance equipment. The only home automation device offered currently by SimpliSafe is their Smart Lock. The SimpliSafe Smart Lock works and will fit over your existing deadbolt lock. It comes in a variety of colors including cloud, nickel, and obsidian which is sure to match the style of any home. Their smart lock has a push button keypad in where you can make custom user codes. The SimpliSafe Smart Lock will keep track of when it has been unlocked and locked, and you can review its history and get alerts through the SimpliSafe app. You can set custom timers for when your SimpliSafe Smart Lock unlocks and locks. It has several built-in safety features including a lock feature if a key code has been entered too many times. That’s all that SimpliSafe is currently offering when it comes to home automation equipment, but they do have a couple of video surveillance cameras for you to choose from.
Video Monitoring/Cameras
SimpliSafe offers their SimpliCam which is a wireless video surveillance camera that works by connecting wirelessly to your home WIFI. It is powered by an AC power source so you want to make sure you have one nearby. You can technically use the SimpliCam indoors or outdoors, but we do suggest you put in a secure location that protects it from the elements if you put it outside. The SimpliCam can capture video in 1080P video quality and includes night vision, motion sensors, and a 2-way audio feature. SimpliSafe also offers a video doorbell camera. SimpliSafe offers their SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro which is a wireless camera that works by connecting to your home’s WIFI, and it is powered through your existing doorbell wiring. The SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro has a 162-degree wide angel field of view, and can capture and stream video is 1080p HD. It has advanced motion sensors that can distinguish between human and non-human signatures. You will get instant alerts anytime your SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro detects motion, and you can use its 2-way audio feature to directly communicate with whomever is around your SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro. It includes night vision technology that allows to capture images even when there is little or no light.
Recommended: See all of our Alarm.com powered video monitoring options at Link Interactive »
Ring Alarm Equipment
Ring offers a lot of great basic equipment for you to choose from. To keep the doors and windows of your home protected, Ring offers wireless and battery-operated door/window sensor. Ring also offers wireless and battery-operated motion sensors that are great at detecting motion in large areas in your home. Ring offers secondary keypads you can add to your Ring Secure system. Their keypads have an illuminated push-button keypad and include a rechargeable battery. Ring also offers a battery-operated panic button that will trigger your system, and alert emergency services when it has been pushed. They also offer a battery-operated external siren that will trigger when your Ring Secure system triggers. Ring offers a wireless and battery-operated smoke/CO sensor and a freeze/flood sensor to keep your home safe from the elements. Both these sensors will make an audible alert if rises in smoke, CO gas, rises/drops in temperature, and floods/ leak occur. All equipment offered by Ring is DIY, but they do include a step by step setup guide for a fast and easy installation.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive »
Home Automation
Due to the Ring control panel having a Z-Wave protocol, you can really expand it to includes a lot of home automaton devices, and these devices don’t have to be a Ring Brand. Ring offers a ton of home automation and video surveillance equipment for you to choose from. Today we will only be going over some of these, and if you are looking for a more complete list you can visit the Ring website. Ring offers several different brands of smart locks including Schlage. These locks have a push-button keypad, can be remotely controlled, and you can create custom user codes that can be enabled and disabled at any time. You can also use a variety of smart bulbs, smart switches, and light controls you can choose from including brands like Phillips HUE and GE. These particular types of devices are great at cutting down your home’s energy consumption per month due to their ability to have custom timers set and to be controlled remotely.
Monitoring/Cameras
When it comes to video surveillance equipment, Ring has more of selection than many other security companies. They offer, indoor, outdoor, video doorbell, and flood light cameras. Their video surveillance cameras come in two versions: powered by an AC power source, and a rechargeable battery powered version. Their cameras work by connecting directly to your home’s WIFI network. You will need to check which camera you are interested in specific specifications but generally most Ring cameras includes 2-way audio, night vision, custom motion zones, motion sensors, and the ability to capture video in either 720P or 1080P.
Recommended: See all of our Alarm.com powered video monitoring options at Link Interactive »
Who wins?
SimpliSafe and Nest offers a lot of similar basic equipment. They both offer wireless and battery-operated entryway and environmental safety sensors. We really like the combo environmental safety sensors offered by Nest due to their ability to monitor for more than one environmental factor which cuts down on your need for separate environmental safety sensors. However, SimpliSafe has a much larger selection of basic equipment for you to choose from than Nest, and for that reason we are making them the winner for this category.
This category is pretty easy for us to call due to the vast difference of add-on equipment offered by SimpliSafe and Ring Secure. Unfortunately, SimpliSafe doesn’t have a very good selection of home automation equipment for you to choose from, and since their control panel doesn’t include a Z-Wave protocol you will very limited on how much you can expand your system. We do however, really like the features that SimpliSafe’s Smart Lock has. Ring Secure has so much add-on equipment for to choose from, and you aren’t limited on what brands you can use with your Ring Secure system. For this reason, we are choosing them the winners of this category.
SimpliSafe vs Ring Alarm App
SimpliSafe and Ring offer video, self, and professional monitoring services. Their self-monitoring services are done through their apps which are free to download and work for PC, Mac, tablets, and smartphones. There is month to month fee to use SimpliSafe’s app, but you can the Ring Secure app’s basic features for free. Their apps will allow to stream live and recorded video, control your system and connected devices, add/remove devices, check system/sensor history, and receive push notifications for events. Their professional monitoring services work the same where you have a 24/7 professional monitoring station watching over your home. You will need to purchase all of your equipment upfront with both SimpliSafe and Ring due to the fact they offer no contract plans. Ring’s month to month cost however is much lower than that of SimpliSafe. However, SimpliSafe is considered one of the cheapest companies when it comes to what they charge for their month-to-month monitoring costs.
Recommended: Check out Link Interactive. With Link Interactive you’ll get the Alarm.com app (the gold standard in home security), and top of the line security equipment at great affordable prices. See details »
SimpliSafe vs Ring Alarm vs Link Interactive
SimpliSafe and Ring have similar control panels and similar basic sensors. The Ring Alarm system allows you to really expand your system which lets you personalize your security solution. SimpliSafe has a ton of basic equipment you can add to your SimpliSafe system so that you can give your home total protection. Due to the recent security concerns of consumers’ information not being protected by Ring, we are making SimpliSafe as our overall winner.
Recommended Alternative: Link Interactive
If you’d like a better bang for your buck without skimping on features and quality of service, take a at the Link Interactive home alarm system.
Link Interactive and SimpliSafe are very similar in terms of equipment and monitoring services. At Link we offer a more advanced control panel in the the Qolsys IQ 2 Panel with Alarm.com self-monitoring and third-party professional monitoring. We also offer cutting-edge video monitoring services, all at a much better price point than SimpliSafe.
We have thousands of 5-star reviews on various reputable third party review sites complimenting our awesome after-sales support! We encourage you take a look at our offer here, get a quote and compare. You can also call us direct at 1-877-826-5443 for further details and speak with a rep!