Home security system cost
Equipment, monitoring, installation and the fees nobody quotes — with three-year totals for every tier.
Read moreCost guides
What it actually costs
Monthly prices are designed to be compared. Total cost is not. These guides work out what you will really have paid by the time you stop.
Security pricing is deliberately hard to compare: equipment financed into monthly payments, promotions that obscure the base price, and fees that surface in year two. Every figure here is a range, verified with a date, because vendors change pricing frequently.
$250–$500
Self-monitored DIY kit
No recurring cost
$900–$1,750
DIY + monitoring, 3 years
Where most people land
$2,000–$3,200
Professionally installed, 3 years
Contract typically required
$75–$150/hr
Installer labour rate
Significant regional variation
Cost guides
Getting a quote you can trust
A good quote itemises equipment by model number, separates labour from hardware, states who owns the equipment at the end, and spells out any recurring cost after the promotional period. Anything vaguer than that is difficult to compare and easy to dispute later.
For anything over about $1,000, get at least two quotes — the spread between installers for identical work is frequently 30–40%. Our free quote service introduces you to one licensed local installer, not a bidding pool, and costs nothing.
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