Ring vs SimpliSafe (2026): Which Home Alarm Costs Less Over Two Years

Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links that may earn Dupple a commission at no extra cost to you. Rankings follow the criteria in the methodology.

Updated November 3, 2026: prices re-checked on each vendor's US store or pricing page. Compared from vendor specs and pricing pages, not tested hands-on.

Ring Alarm costs less than SimpliSafe over two years when both include professional monitoring. As of November 2026, the Ring Alarm 5-piece kit at $199.99 plus Ring Pro at $19.99 a month comes to $679.75 over 24 months. The SimpliSafe Starter at $282.94 plus Core monitoring at $32.99 a month comes to $1,074.70.

Both are do-it-yourself home alarms with monthly monitoring plans. The gap comes from the kit price and the plan, and each vendor's own pages decide the numbers below.

Ring Alarm vs SimpliSafe at a glance

The table compares the two entry kits and the monitoring tier that includes professional response on each site. Prices are the vendor's US prices read on November 3, 2026.

The ranking and the cards

The ranking uses one rule, stated in the methodology: the lower 24-month total for the kit plus the professional monitoring tier, billed monthly, ranks first. Ring Alarm has the lower total, so it is number 1. The two cards below follow that order.

1. Ring Alarm 5-piece kit: lower two-year cost, battery without a plan

$199.99 now on Ring's US store, with the page showing "Was $244.95" beside it. Read November 3, 2026.

The kit has five pieces: a base station, a keypad, a door or window contact sensor, a motion detector and a range extender. Ring's kit page says Ring Alarm "comes with a 24-hour backup battery that kicks in whenever the power at home goes out". That battery works without a plan, a point in Ring's favour; the kit ranks first on the lower 24-month total.

Professional monitoring sits on Ring Pro, which the plan page prices monthly or yearly. Ring's plan page says Pro includes professional monitoring and everything in the Multi plan.

• Remote arm and disarm from the phone needs a Ring Protect Plan, sold separately. The keypad still arms the system without one.
• Ring Pro costs about double the Multi plan's $9.99 a month, and Multi has no professional monitoring.
• Alarm Cellular Backup needs a compatible Ring subscription and uses a third-party carrier.

Best for: buyers who want the lower two-year total with professional monitoring and a battery that runs without a plan.

Source: Ring's Alarm kit page.

2. SimpliSafe The Starter: a dispatch-only tier and a six-piece kit

$282.94 to pay in full for The Starter on SimpliSafe's US store, read November 3, 2026. The equipment is a base station, a keypad, three entry sensors and a motion sensor, plus a yard sign. The title calls it a six-piece system, and the kit costs $82.95 more than Ring's.

Core is $1.10 a day on SimpliSafe's features page. SimpliSafe's support plan page lists Core at $32.99 a month, and that is the figure this page uses. The same page says Core includes "unlimited camera recording and evidence capture".

SimpliSafe also sells Standard Monitoring at 76 cents a day. The features page describes it as a plan that "requests police dispatch without camera recording or video verification". Standard is the only break-in dispatch tier without camera recording either page lists, so it fits that buyer.

• The 24-hour battery backup is tied to professional monitoring. The starter page says the built-in network backup and battery "requires professional monitoring".
• Core lists 30-day cloud storage for up to 10 cameras. Ring Pro keeps up to 180 days of video playback.
• The page names built-in network backup, not cellular backup.

Best for: buyers who want a dispatch tier without camera recording, or a six-piece kit with three entry sensors.

Source: SimpliSafe's Starter page.

Ring vs SimpliSafe: which costs less

Ring Alarm is cheaper on both the kit and the monitoring tier. On the kit alone, Ring is $82.95 lower. With the monitoring tier added, the gap widens to $394.95 over 24 months, because Ring Pro is $13.00 a month less than Core.

Verdict: Ring Alarm is the lower-cost setup on the vendor prices read today. The gap holds even with SimpliSafe's Black Friday kit price, covered in the FAQ.

SimpliSafe vs Ring: which one fits your home

The cost gap decides most comparisons, but not all of them. SimpliSafe fits a buyer who wants monitoring without camera recording, and Ring fits one who wants video history and battery backup without a plan.

If you only want police dispatch and no camera recording, SimpliSafe's Standard tier is the one of the two priced for that job, at 76 cents a day. Ring's Multi plan does not include professional monitoring, and Ring's professional monitoring tier, Pro, includes the video features.

Which costs less after 12 and 24 months?

Dupple data: the totals below are our own computation from the vendor prices read on November 3, 2026, not a figure any vendor publishes. A kit is a one-time price and monitoring is a running cost, so the 24-month total is the number that matters. Each row uses the kit price and the professional monitoring tier, billed monthly unless stated.

The arithmetic is shown once. Ring Alarm, monthly: $199.99 + 12 × $19.99 = $439.87 for 12 months, and $199.99 + 24 × $19.99 = $679.75 for 24 months. SimpliSafe: $282.94 + 12 × $32.99 = $678.82 for 12 months, and $282.94 + 24 × $32.99 = $1,074.70 for 24 months. Ring's annual Pro price brings the kit plus one year to $399.98 and two years to $599.97.

Two choices in the model favour SimpliSafe, and both are stated so you can check them. SimpliSafe's $1.10 a day works out to about $33.46 a month over a full year, so the monthly figure used here is the lower one. SimpliSafe also publishes no annual Core price on the pages read, so monthly is the only billing option modelled for it.

SimpliSafe's optional professional installation, which starts at $124.99, is left out of every total.

Cameras each system sells

Neither kit includes cameras, so a camera is an extra cost on each system. Ring's plan page lists the Battery Doorbell 4K Pro at $249.99 and the Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam 2K as a 2-pack at $139.98. Its range also includes the Outdoor Cam (2nd gen), the Floodlight Cam (2nd gen) and the Battery Video Doorbell (2nd gen).

SimpliSafe's Starter page lists the Outdoor Camera at $199.99 each, and the Video Doorbell at the same price. The Video Doorbell needs an existing wired doorbell and chime. The plan comparison also names the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera, used for intruder intervention during an alarm. Its price was not read.

If you want cameras with no subscription

If the plan is the problem, a camera with local storage avoids the monthly fee altogether. These three cameras are picked on local or no-fee storage, price and what each brand's own page says about subscriptions. They are not ranked against Ring Alarm or SimpliSafe. For more options, read Ring alternatives with no subscription and Eufy vs Ring vs Reolink.

aosu Security Cam D1 SE

$64.99 sale price on aosu's US store, read November 3, 2026. The $89.99 struck through beside it is labelled by aosu as an "Estimated Value", so it is not a list price.

The product page carries the tag "No Monthly Fees" and describes 5MP video with 360 degree pan and tilt. The page does not say where footage is kept, so check that before you buy if local storage is the reason you are buying.

Weakness: the storage method is not stated on the product page, so the no-fee claim is the only subscription fact on it.

Visit aosu's US store

Reolink E1 Pro (5MP, one camera)

$66.49 on Reolink's US store, 5% off the $69.99 shown beside it, read November 3, 2026. Opens Amazon; the price on Amazon may differ.

The page says you can "insert a microSD card of up to 512GB and capture continuous recording of up to 16 days at the default 3072kbps bitrate". Its description also promises "flexible local storage without subscription fees".

Weakness: this is an indoor camera, as the page's note says ("For indoor use"), so it does not cover the outside of the house.

Visit Reolink's Amazon store

Botslab W311 Outdoor Camera

$79.00 sale price on Botslab's US store, read November 3, 2026. The page labels $139.00 as its "Regular price".

The page lists local recording to a microSD card of up to 256GB, which is not included, or to an NVR, or to Botslab Cloud. Cloud storage "requires activation via the BOTSLAB App". The camera is rated IP66 and is powered from a wall outlet.

Weakness: it needs a power outlet, so it cannot go where there is none, and the microSD card is an extra purchase.

Visit Botslab's US store

The Reolink button opens Amazon. The aosu and Botslab buttons go to each brand's own store.

Who should buy which

• Budget-first, with professional monitoring: Ring Alarm, on the lower 24-month total.
• Battery backup without a monthly plan: Ring Alarm, whose 24-hour battery does not depend on a plan.
• Monitoring without camera recording: SimpliSafe Standard at 76 cents a day, the only break-in dispatch tier without camera recording either page lists.
• Cameras with local storage: the Reolink E1 Pro for indoor use, or the Botslab W311 for outdoor use with a microSD card.

FAQ

Is Ring Alarm cheaper than SimpliSafe over two years?

Yes, on the vendor prices read on November 3, 2026. Ring Alarm's 5-piece kit plus Ring Pro, at $19.99 a month, comes to $679.75 over 24 months. SimpliSafe's Starter plus Core comes to $1,074.70, a gap of $394.95.

Do Ring Alarm or SimpliSafe work without a monthly plan?

Partly. Ring's kit page says you can arm and disarm from the keypad without a plan, and its 24-hour battery comes with the kit. Remote arm and disarm from the phone needs a Ring Protect Plan, sold separately. On SimpliSafe, the battery backup requires professional monitoring, so without a monitoring plan that backup does not apply.

Does either system have cellular backup?

Ring does. Its page describes Alarm Cellular Backup, which keeps the system connected if the internet goes down, and says a compatible Ring subscription is required. The carrier is third party. SimpliSafe's pages name built-in network backup and a battery, not cellular backup.

Are these systems on a contract?

SimpliSafe says it has "no long-term contracts" and no cancellation fees, so you can cancel any time. Ring's plans "auto-renew until canceled", with no fixed term shown on the page. Neither page shows a contract term.

Is SimpliSafe's Black Friday price worth waiting for?

The Starter page shows a Black Friday early-access price of $84.90, with 70% off tied to Core monitoring, which includes one free month. Read on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, the page says the offer ends Thursday, which is November 5, 2026. Counting the free month as one of the 24, the 24-month total at that kit price is $843.67 (84.90 + 23 x 32.99, Dupple data, computed from the same vendor prices), still above Ring's total. The offer lowers the first purchase, not the monthly bill. This page uses the $282.94 pay-in-full price because the offer may be gone when you read this.

Do the aosu, Reolink and Botslab cameras need a subscription?

The aosu page says "No Monthly Fees" but does not say where footage is kept. The Reolink page describes local storage without subscription fees. The Botslab page describes recording to a microSD card, and says cloud storage needs activation in its app. Check each page's storage details before you buy.

Methodology

The comparison covers the Ring Alarm 5-piece kit and SimpliSafe's The Starter, the nearest entry kit on each site. For monitoring it uses Ring Pro and SimpliSafe Core, the tiers with professional response. Ring Multi is noted for buyers who do not need dispatch.

The ranking rule is the 24-month total for the kit plus professional monitoring, billed monthly, lower total first. Ring Alarm ranks first on the lower total. The summary table and the cards follow that same order.

All prices were read on November 3, 2026, on each vendor's own US store or pricing page, by reading the page directly and not through a third-party site. Where a page shows a sale and a reference price, the sale is written as the sale. The camera section is not part of the ranking.

Sources

• Ring Alarm 5-piece kit, price, contents, battery and cellular backup: ring.com/products/security-system-alarm-5, read November 3, 2026.
• Ring plans, Pro monitoring, Multi and camera prices: ring.com/plans, read November 3, 2026.
• SimpliSafe The Starter, price, equipment and add-on prices: simplisafe.com/home-security-system-starter, read November 3, 2026.
• SimpliSafe monitoring plans, per-day prices and plan comparison: simplisafe.com/features-alarm-monitoring, read November 3, 2026.
• SimpliSafe Core price and camera recording: SimpliSafe's support plan page lists Core at $32.99 a month, support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-event-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options, read November 3, 2026.
• aosu Security Cam D1 SE: aosulife.com/products/security-cam-d1-se, read November 3, 2026.
• Reolink E1 Pro, Reolink US store: reolink.com/us/product/e1-pro, read November 3, 2026.
• Botslab W311 Outdoor Camera: botslab.com/products/botslab-outdoor-pan-tilt-camera-w311, read November 3, 2026.

Related reading

• Ring alternatives with no subscription
• Eufy vs Ring vs Reolink
• aosu security camera review

Ring Alarm is the lower two-year cost on the vendor prices read today, and it keeps its battery backup without a plan. SimpliSafe is the better fit when a dispatch-only tier at 76 cents a day matters more than price. Check both prices again on the day you buy, because the SimpliSafe early-access offer ends November 5, 2026.