SimpliSafe UK Home Alarm Review
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Plan
|
Monthly cost
|
Arm/disarm from app
|
24/7 live monitoring
|
Police and fire dispatch
|
Learn more
|
| Free | $0/mo. |
 No |
No |
No |
View packages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | £15.99 |
No |
 Yes |
No |
View packages |
| Pro Premium | £24.99 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
View packages |
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SimpliSafe blows the competition out of the water in terms of affordability, convenience, and customer care. It’s the only home alarm system in the UK to offer no-contract professional monitoring, DIY installation and zero cancellation fees.
If that weren’t enough, SimpliSafe offers a three-year equipment warranty, even if you choose the free monthly plan. Best of all, you can purchase a SimpliSafe system online without ever speaking to a rep.
No contract No cancellation fees No quote required for purchase Free option
Just one camera Average video quality Poor smart home compatibilitySimpliSafe cost
SimpliSafe equipment packages start at around £285, which gives you a base station, keypad, SimpliCam and one entry sensor. From there, you can add equipment as you see fit. Or you can purchase an upgraded package, which may result in a small discount.
Delivery costs
SimpliSafe offers free delivery on all orders over £50. Otherwise, expect to pay around £5 for delivery. Charges may vary based on your location.
Optional monthly costs
You needn’t pay a monthly fee to use SimpliSafe equipment, but there are perks to doing so. SimpliSafe offers two paid plans in the UK: Pro (£12.99/mo.) and Pro Premium (£19.99/mo.).
With the Pro plan, security specialists monitor your system 24/7. Your system will also stay connected to the SimpliSafe monitoring centre during a power outage thanks to cellular backup.
But we recommend the Pro Premium plan for full benefits, including mobile app access and police, firefighter or guard dispatch.
Guard dispatch cost
Pro Premium’s optional guard dispatch service costs £75 for the first 15 minutes that the guard is on your premises. If the guard detects a problem, they’ll wait for a keyholder or police/firefighters to arrive, and this can result in additional charges for the guard’s time.
If you’re worried about the possibility of sudden charges associated with this guard service, you may opt out.
Is SimpliSafe right for you?
SimpliSafe is our top home alarm pick in the UK thanks to its budget-friendly equipment, affordable monthly monitoring rates and easy setup. The SimpliSafe base station works with up to 100 sensors, so it’s easy to adapt this system to any size home or flat.
SimpliSafe claims that its sensors communicate with the base station through thick walls but acknowledges that sensors located in a garage may have a weak signal. Fortunately, SimpliSafe offers a 60-day money-back guarantee.
But SimpliSafe does have a few flaws. It’s not an ideal system for smart home integrations or automations. If you’ve fallen into the smart home rabbit hole, you’re bound to be disappointed that SimpliSafe doesn’t play well with others.
We previously complained that SimpliSafe offered no dedicated outdoor camera. The company since released a wireless outdoor camera and an optional solar charger. Read our full take in our SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera review.
How SimpliSafe stacks up
|
Brand
|
Best for
|
Lowest monthly monitoring price
|
Starter equipment price
|
Contract required
|
Installation
|
Learn more
|
|
SimpliSafe |
Best home alarm system | £12.99 | £248.97 |
No |
DIY | View Packages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ADT |
Most trusted pick | £13.99 | £0 |
Yes |
Pro | View Packages |
 Verisure |
Most comprehensive pick | £39.90 | Call for quote |
Yes |
Pro | View Packages |
 Ring |
Budget pick | £2.50 | £219.00* |
No |
DIY | View on Amazon |
 Abode |
Smart home pick | £3.59 | £275.99 |
No |
DIY | View Packages |
*Amazon.com price as of post date. Read full disclaimer.
SimpliSafe contracts and warranties
We love SimpliSafe’s customer-centric policies. They don’t lock customers into long-term contracts for monitoring services, and there’s no cancellation charge. That means you can easily switch to pro-monitoring while you’re on holiday and revert back to self-monitoring as needed.
Three-year warranty
SimpliSafe also offers a three-year warranty on all equipment purchased directly through the company even if you don’t pay for a monitoring plan. This is exceptional for a home alarm company.
SimpliSafe's return policy
You have up to 60 days to return your equipment for a full refund. SimpliSafe pays for shipping.
SimpliSafe equipment and fees
All SimpliSafe base stations come with a wireless keypad (which includes a red panic button) and an indoor security camera (SimpliCam). The base station and SimpliCam plug into standard UK wall outlets. Everything else uses batteries, which are included with your purchase.
Build on this system by hand-selecting your sensors:
- Door/window sensors
- Motion sensors
- Glass break sensor
- Smoke detector
- Freeze sensor
- Water sensor
SimpliSafe’s sensors are programmed to recognize the heat signatures of humans, not animals. They’ll ignore movement from pets weighing up to 50 lbs.
Add on the following equipment to personalise your home alarm and monitoring system:
- Extra keypad
- Extra SimpliCam
- Outdoor cam with optional solar panel
- SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro
- Extra siren
- Panic button
- Key fob
- Outdoor bell box
- Yard signs
- Window decals
- Extra adhesive tape or batteries
The SimpliSafe Smart Lock isn't sold in the UK.
You may get a slight discount by ordering equipment as part of a package rather than choosing equipment à la carte. Package differences are noted below. We particularly like The Warwick because it includes a convenient key fob and seven entry sensors, meaning you can arm most (if not all) ground-floor windows and doors.
Compare SimpliSafe equipment packages
|
Package
|
Equipment cost
 |
Entry sensors
|
Motion sensor
|
Key fob
|
Wireless siren
|
Panic button and glass break sensor
|
Learn more
|
 The Foundation |
£284.96 | 1 | None | None | None | None | View Packages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Starter |
£314.95 | 1 | 1 | None | None | None | View Packages |
 The Essentials |
£344.93 | 3 | 1 | None | None | None | View Packages |
 The Warwick |
£399.89 | 7 | 1 | 1 | None | None | View Packages |
 The Windsor |
£489.86 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | None | View Packages |
 The Bamburgh |
£544.87 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 of each | View Packages |
Info current as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
SimpliSafe setup and installation
SimpliSafe is designed for DIY setup and installation. As soon as you plug in the base station and remove the battery tab, it starts talking you through the setup process. You’ll use the keypad to create a master PIN and name each device as it’s installed.
The base station, SimpliCam, glass break sensor and water detector sit on any flat surface. The entry sensors, motion sensors and keypad adhere to the wall with sticky tape. The smoke detector and freeze detector are mounted with screws.
We’ve gone into much more detail about the SimpliSafe installation process in How to Install a SimpliSafe Home Security System.
SimpliSafe smart home features and compatibility
To integrate SimpliSafe with the following smart home devices, you must pay for the £19.99 Pro Premium plan:
This is a pretty limited selection that’s missing industry giants like IFTTT, Z-wave, Zigbee and Apple HomeKit. For a home alarm system with excellent compatibility, we recommend Abode UK.
Google Home
Here are a few examples of what you can say to Google Home regarding your SimpliSafe alarm:
- “Hey Google, is the security system armed?”
- “Hey Google, arm SimpliSafe to Away.”
You can’t disarm the system with your voice. The only way to disarm it is to use the keypad, key fob or SimpliSafe app (with Pro or Pro Premium plans only).
View the full list of “Hey Google” commands on the SimpliSafe website.
Amazon Alexa
Talking to Alexa is a little more fun. She’ll respond to voice prompts like:
- “Alexa, tell SimpliSafe to batten down the hatches.”
- “Alexa, ask SimpliSafe what’s shakin’.”
As with Google Home, Amazon Alexa won’t respond to disarm requests.
View the full list of Alexa-friendly SimpliSafe prompts on the SimpliSafe website, or check out our guide to using SimpliSafe with Alexa.
SimpliSafe customer service and support
Check out SimpliSafe's customer support channels for UK residents:
- Telephone (0800-920-2420)
- customer-support@simplisafe.co.uk
- Contact form
- Help centre
- User forums
We used a chat feature to ask a few simple questions, but it didn’t appear on all pages and we couldn’t always find it. When we did find the chat, our questions were answered quickly and clearly.
The UK branch of SimpliSafe has earned 4.6 stars from over 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot.1 Many of the 1-star reviews cited issues with promotions or implied a misunderstanding of what the free plan entails. You do need to pay a monthly fee to enjoy the full functionality of this system and professional monitoring, but that’s true for all home alarm systems.
Final word
SimpliSafe is a basic but effective home alarm system that’s virtually risk-free thanks to its flexible no-contract plans, generous return policy and three-year warranty. We also like that you can purchase equipment à la carte directly from the website—no need for a sales quote.
There’s room for improvement in terms of smart home integration and camera quality, but SimpliSafe gets the job done for both renters and homeowners seeking their first alarm system.
SimpliSafe FAQ
No, SimpliSafe doesn't work in Europe. SimpliSafe only works in the US and UK.
The SimpliSafe keypad will display error codes if a sensor isn’t working properly, among other issues. Consult the chart on page 18 of the user manual for a list of SimpliSafe error codes and their meanings, or check out our SimpliSafe troubleshooting guide.
It sure is! It's so good, it's our top pick for security systems in the UK.
If you're looking for a basic system that does the job well, then SimpliSafe's affordable system is worth it.
Read answers to more SimpliSafe FAQs.
How we reviewed SimpliSafe
We’re no strangers to SimpliSafe since we’ve conducted hands-on reviews of their equipment and even installed a full system ourselves. Over the past eight years, we’ve talked to dozens of SimpliSafe representatives and read hundreds of reviews from SimpliSafe users.
To review the SimpliSafe UK branch, we went straight to SimpliSafe.co.uk and started investigating the differences in equipment, prices, monthly plans and monitoring services. When we had questions, we reached out to SimpliSafe via the website’s chat function. We looked for reviews on SimpliSafe’s user forums and on Trustpilot.
We used our knowledge of the industry to evaluate our findings. You can read more about how we review products and services on our methodology page.
Related articles on SafeWise
Sources
- TrustPilot, “SimpliSafe.co.uk Reviews.” Accessed 6 March 2023.
*Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
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