How we research and score
What our scores are based on, what they are not, and the limitations we think you should know about before trusting them.
Every review site claims to be rigorous. Few describe what that means concretely enough for you to judge. This page sets out our process, including the parts that are weaker than we would like.
The five criteria
Every product receives a score out of five, built from the same five components, weighted as shown.
| Criterion | Weight | What we assess |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment quality | 25% | Build, sensor reliability, weather resistance, expected lifespan, and failure patterns reported over multi-year ownership |
| Monitoring & response | 25% | Central station infrastructure and redundancy, cellular backup, verification features, and dispatch process |
| Contract & terms | 20% | Contract length, early termination formula, equipment ownership, price rises after promotional periods, and cancellation friction |
| App & daily use | 15% | Speed, clarity, notification quality and false-alert rate, arming and disarming friction, integration behaviour |
| Value | 15% | Total cost over three to five years relative to capability — not sticker price |
Two of these deserve comment. Contract terms carry 20% because they are the most common source of regret in this category, and most review sites treat them as a footnote. Value is assessed over three to five years, not at purchase, because subscription costs routinely exceed hardware costs and comparing sticker prices is actively misleading.
Where our information comes from
Manufacturer documentation. Specifications, manuals, support articles and current pricing pages, checked directly rather than taken from other publications.
Regulatory and legal records. FTC actions, state attorney-general settlements, and published security research. This is how we source claims about Ring’s 2023 settlement, Wyze’s disclosure timeline and Eufy’s cloud-upload findings.
Long-run owner reports. Patterns across large volumes of user reports — particularly failures appearing at the two-to-four-year mark, which no short-term test detects.
Installer input. Conversations with the licensed installers in our network, who see how equipment behaves across many homes over years. This is the source of most of our practical installation guidance, and of unglamorous facts like why Lutron gets specified.
What we do not claim
This is the part most methodology pages leave out, and it matters more than the rest.
- We do not run a testing laboratory. We do not perform standardised environmental testing, forced-entry testing or instrumented measurement. Where we cite an IP rating or an ANSI grade, that is the manufacturer’s certified figure, not our measurement.
- We have not lived with every product for years. Long-term reliability assessments draw on aggregated owner reports and installer experience, which are informative but not the same as controlled testing.
- Pricing changes constantly. Every figure is a range with a verification date. Confirm current pricing with the vendor before buying — we say this on every page for a reason.
- Response times depend on your local police, not the monitoring company. No score we give can tell you how quickly help arrives where you live.
- Our scores are judgements, not measurements. Reasonable people weighting the criteria differently would rank these products differently.
How we handle money
We earn through affiliate commissions and installer referral fees. Neither influences a score, and no brand can buy a ranking, see a review before publication, or have a criticism removed. The full arrangement — including the specific rules we hold ourselves to — is set out in our disclosure.
Updates and corrections
Every page shows when it was last updated. We review pricing and product pages regularly, and revise when a vendor changes terms, a product is discontinued, or new information emerges.
If we get something wrong, we correct it and note what changed. Email corrections@smart.homes with the page and the specific claim. Substantive corrections that change a recommendation are noted on the page itself rather than made silently.
Who writes this
Content is produced by the Smart.Homes research team, drawing on manufacturer documentation, public records, aggregated owner reports and the practical experience of the licensed installers we work with. Read more about us.
Last updated: 7 September 2026.