Readers' Choice 2024: The Home Security Brands You Trust Most

In 2024, you have more options than ever when it comes to protecting your home with a security system. You can go the old-school route and have a full-home setup installed by professionals, or you can buy individual cameras and sensors a-la-carte for a DIY system. No matter what you choose, dozens of companies are ready to provide the technology you need. But in a market that's teeming with so many good vendors, how do you know who to trust to secure your home?

That's where we come in. In our most recent Readers' Choice survey, we asked PCMag readers to rate the various devices and services that keep their homes safe: security systems (also known as intrusion systems or burglar alarms), video doorbells, indoor and outdoor security cameras, and smart locks. Which brands came out on top? Read on to find out!

The Top Security System Brands for 2024

For the purposes of our survey, we consider a security system to be anything that includes some form of intrusion detection. To that end, 86% of our respondents say their systems include door and window sensors, and nearly as many (84%) also have motion detection sensors. But true security involves more than sensors. In addition, many report their system includes other forms of home safety and security protection: 52% have smoke and/or carbon monoxide detection, 49% outdoor cameras, 43% indoor cameras, 42% video doorbells, 21% water and flood detection, and 16% have a smart lock.

Half of our respondents (50%) say their system was professionally installed. While most systems don’t require it, 79% subscribe to professional monitoring and other services.

So, which home security brand should you turn to if you're looking to outfit your home with one of the aforementioned products? According to hundreds of PCMag readers, the answer is Ring. The company, which is owned by Amazon, receives the highest ratings for overall satisfaction and likelihood of recommendation. It officially supplants last year's winner, SimpliSafe, to win our 2024 Readers’ Choice award for security systems.

Ring also earns top marks on several other measures, including satisfaction with reliability, satisfaction with door and window sensors, motion detection, and mobile control.

Note: Click the down, left, and right arrows in our interactive charts below to view different elements of our survey results.

SimpliSafe’s overall satisfaction score is slightly down from prior years, but survey respondents still give the company top marks for price, monitoring costs, ease of use, customer service, technical support, and repairs. Ring and SimpliSafe tie for setup.

Interestingly, in our results, 89% of Ring systems and 96% of SimpliSafe systems were not professionally installed. And note that ADT and Vivint—systems that require professional installation—rank far behind Ring and SimpliSafe on nearly every measure of satisfaction.

If you choose to enhance your security system’s intrusion-detection capabilities with cameras and doorbells, you don’t need to purchase them from the same company. However, doing so typically allows for better integration. That's probably why Ring also has the top scores for its system-based indoor cameras, outdoor cameras, and doorbells this year.

For our top product picks based on hands-on reviews, read The Best Smart Home Security Systems.

The Top Indoor Security Cameras for 2024

Indoor cameras can be placed throughout your home to help you keep an eye on kids, pets, babysitters, and anyone else roaming about your home. In this category, SimpliSafe is a clear standout and winner of this year's Readers' Choice Award.

SimpliSafe has the highest overall satisfaction rating and the best satisfaction ratings on nearly every measure for which it receives a score. The only areas where SimpliSafe doesn't come out on top are likelihood to recommend (where it ties Wyze, just behind Ring), satisfaction with setup (second to Wyze), and satisfaction with cost (behind both Wyze and Blink).

For our top product picks based on hands-on reviews, read The Best Indoor Security Cameras.

The Top Outdoor Security Cameras for 2024

Outdoor security cameras are weather-resistant devices that can be placed in areas that your video doorbell might not be able to see to keep you apprised of who (or what) is lurking around your house. SimpliSafe wins our Readers’ Choice Award for its outdoor cameras (combining the ratings for standalone and security system units).

You'll notice that Wyze has the higher overall satisfaction score and would traditionally be the winner based on our usual criteria. But PCMag, along with other publications, no longer recommends Wyze. It's had too many security breaches and other issues that affect its cameras, many of which went unreported by the company for too long. For that reason, we feel SimpliSafe is the best option in this category.

SimpliSafe ties with Ring on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend, but SimpliSafe has the edge in important subcategories like monitoring cost, setup, ease of use, customer service, tech support, and motion detection. That said, if you're all about reliability, Ring's outdoor cams have the highest score there, even over Wyze.

The low end of the spectrum again belongs to ADT and Arlo.

For our top product picks based on hands-on reviews, read The Best Outdoor Home Security Cameras.

The Top Video Doorbells for 2024

Video doorbells let you see who is at your front door and even speak with whoever is there, even if you’re not home. Many can also identify package deliveries and familiar faces, so you know who is coming and going.

Which company makes the best video doorbells, according to PCMag readers? This year, SimpliSafe is the brand to beat. It has the highest overall satisfaction rating and is among the top performers on most other measures, thereby earning it our Readers' Choice Award for 2024.

Standout scores for SimpliSafe include mobile controls and two-way audio. Respondents were somewhat less likely to recommend SimpliSafe, however, compared with Google Nest, which had the highest likelihood to recommend rating along with Wyze. Google Nest also has slightly better scores for motion detection, live view, reliability, and ease of use.

For our top product picks based on hands-on reviews, read The Best Video Doorbells.

The Top Smart Locks for 2024

Smart locks can provide a simple means of keyless entry to your home. Depending on the lock you choose, you can gain access by typing in a code, using Bluetooth or NFC, or even via facial recognition. Some smart locks replace your existing lock completely, while others simply swap out the deadbolt or sit on top of it.

Smart locks also let you give visitors limited access to your home. For example, if your cleaning service comes only on Wednesday mornings, certain smart locks allow you to limit their keypad code access to that time frame. This makes smart locks popular with rental hosts, who can provide each renter with a unique, limited access code.

Schlage wins the PCMag Readers’ Choice award again for smart locks. It previously won in 2021 and 2022 (we did not give out an award in this category last year). Kwikset was the only other smart lock brand that received enough responses to be included.

Schlage scores higher than Kwikset in every single measure we poll for, including the all-important measures of overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. Schlage also secures top scores for its mobile app, non-owner access features, and reliability. Its lowest rating was for cost satisfaction, but even so, it still scores half a point better than Kwikset.

For our top product picks based on hands-on reviews, read The Best Smart Locks.

Full Results

The PCMag Readers' Choice survey for Home Security was in the field from July 15 to Aug. 5, 2024. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read the survey methodology.