Two well-known brands in the home security market with dramatically different approaches, ADT and Protect America have both established strong brand identities and name recognition among homeowners looking to secure and protect their homes. Protect America first made a name for themselves when they introduced their DIY home security solution in a market place dominated by ADT Security, the oldest and largest home alarm company in the U.S. with a physical presence in virtually every part of the country and their ubiquitous blue octagon logo.
ADT Security
is synonymous with home security for many homeowners and represents a more traditional approach to security that requires the customer set an appointment and have a professional technician come to their home and install the security system.
Protect America Home Security
is recognized as a pioneer in the DIY home security market. Utilizing wireless equipment from GE, an inside sales model, and remote set-up and support. Protect America security provides homeowners with an inexpensive alternative to ADT’s more traditional approach.
With different approaches to home security, both ADT and Protect America security have benefits and shortcomings when compared to one another, which begs the question: When we put these two home security companies up against one another, which one is better?
Let’s take a look at their differences and similarities to find out.
- Overall Rating
9.0 - BBB Rating
A+ - Support Rating
8.7 - Contract Length
36/mo - Trial Period
60 days - Warranty
Lifetime - Install. Type
Pro - (888) 241-8320
- Overall Rating
6.5 - BBB Rating
A - Support Rating
5.0 - Contract Length
36/mo - Trial Period
14 days - Warranty
Lifetime - Install. Type
Self - (800) 657-2717
Overall Winner: ADT
Call ADT today and and qualify to receive 850 OFF Equipment when you sign a new agreement.
Key Differences: ADT vs Protect America
Both alarm companies offer complete home security systems for their customers, but deliver their solutions by different means. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest differences between Protect America and ADT and how they impact our decision in picking a winner in this head-to-head comparison.
Installation
As we’ve mentioned above, one of the major differences between ADT’s and Protect America’s approach to home security is how they deliver their solutions to customers.
ADT has been in the business for well over 100 years, long before wireless communication was available. Due to the complexity of traditional home security systems, ADT needed trained professionals to install their security systems. This leaf to the development of a nationwide network of dealers and installers to service customers across the country. While technology has advanced in the home security space, ADT still relies on their in-home technicians to setup the system and provide the homeowner with an in-home walk-through of how the system works.
Protect America ships their wireless system to the homeowner, who is then responsible for installing their own security system and calling Protect America to activate it.
While Protect America may have been one of the first to introduce this DIY mode of protecting the home, others, such as Frontpoint have taken more care in ensuring a positive customer experience at every step in the process. For homeowners that prefer the knowledge their system was installed by a pro that reviewed their home and security plan and walked them through using the system, Protect America’s haphazard DIY security approach doesn’t cut it. For more information on Frontpoint read our Frontpoint Security Reviews
Pricing
Protect America security places an emphasis on being the lowest cost home security provider in the U.S., offering a lowest price guarantee, free equipment and low cost monitoring at $19.99. And while all of that is significantly less expensive than ADT’s entry level security packages, once you look beyond the most basic security packages, the pricing difference becomes substantially less impressive – as you’ll see in our comparison below, in order to get cellular communication, you’ll have to spend significantly more than $19.99 a month with Protect America. When it comes to securing your home and protecting your family, should you feel safe with a company that earned your business by using sleazy bait and switch tactics?
Monitoring Centers
ADT Security offers their 6 million+ customers the alarm industry’s most comprehensive security monitoring network with a total of six central monitoring stations located in different regions of the U.S. With multiple stations, ADT is able to provide continuous security nationwide even if there is a connection interruption at one center. If one of ADT’s central stations goes down, another redundant station quickly takes over monitoring to ensure 24/7, 365 coverage. Their central monitoring stations are all UL-listed, FM-approved, CSAA 5-Diamond Certified and have DOD security clearance.
Protect America does not own or operate their own monitoring stations. Instead, they work with Criticom International to provide monitoring services to their more than 500,000 customers. Criticom operates three UL-Listed and FM-Approved central stations to service Protect America customers as well as customers from all their other clients.
Technology Platform
ADT is actively invested in the development and expandion of their own technology platform to support their continuing expansion into home automation. Through ADT Security’s proprietary Canopy service, customers can now integrate their home security system with popular 3rd party smart home devices like the Nest Learning Thermostat and products from LG. Protect America uses Alarm.com’s software platform to support their wireless equipment system and while we’ve seen some providers that utilize Alarm.com’s recent advancements like their integrations with 3rd party smart home products like AppleTV and the Amazon Echo, Protect America has shown little interest in exploring the future of the connected home and seems to be more passive in interest when it comes to expansion and compatibility features.
Package & Feature Comparison
- Monitoring Level
Pulse Remote - Monitoring Cost
$49.99 - Upfront Cost
$99 - 24/7 Professional Monitoring of:
Intrusion
Fire
Medical
Environmental - Remote Access
- Remote Control
- Email / Text Alerts
- Geo Services
- Home Automation
- (888) 241-8320
- Monitoring Level
Silver + Smart Connect - Monitoring Cost
$49.99 - Upfront Cost
Free - 24/7 Professional Monitoring of:
Intrusion
Fire
Medical
Environmental - Remote Access
- Remote Control
- Email / Text Alerts
- Geo Services
- Home Automation
- (855) 903-7510
Protect America vs ADT Comparison Break Down
Company Reputation
Winner: ADT
Pricing
Winner: Protect America
Service
Winner: ADT
Ease of Installation
Winner: ADT
Equipment & Technology
Winner: ADT
ADT offers a complete line of home security equipment as well as automation devices from well-known manufacturers. It took a while for the company to release ADT Pulse in response to increased user-demand for interactive security systems. But since that time, they’ve put more resources into integrating with third party products and providers to ensure their system’s ability to meet evolving homeowner needs.
We like that Protect America security offers wireless equipment from GE, cellular communication (as long as you’re willing to pay extra) and Alarm.com interactive services. Unfortunately, the company seems happy to sit in neutral while other providers using the same partnerships explore their capabilities. ADT security is moving further and further ahead with their equipment and technology as they continue to develop new wireless devices and IoT integrations.
The Overall Winner: ADT
Protect America security deserves a nod for helping establish wireless DIY home security as a viable option, but they fall below our expectations when it comes to treating customers properly. With dubious marketing promotions and aggressive sales tactics, we find it difficult to even recommend Protect America for those looking for a low-cost solution. Head-to-head, very few companies can compete against ADT home security and in this case, they are clear and away our winner.
- Most well-known and largest alarm company in the U.S.
- Multiple monitoring stations across the U.S.
- 24/7 phone and email support for customers
- Same day professional installation (based on availability and service area)
- A+ BBB Rating
- New innovations and IoT integrations through their Canopy service
- Full range of security and automation sensors and control options
