The Best Vivint Alternatives for 2026 - My Top 2 Recommendations

If you're already a Vivint customer and you want to change providers, or you're considering buying Vivint but want to look at other options first, then you're going to want to consider either ADT or Cove.

If you want every feature that Vivint has, including home automation and security cameras, from a different provider, ADT is the way to go. But if the high price tag of Vivint is the reason, and don't care about home automation, then consider Cove.

I've had all three of these home security systems installed in my own house, along with Ring and SimpliSafe, so these picks come from living with the equipment.

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What To Look For In A Vivint Alternative

I based my recommendations around three important features that you should be looking for in a Vivint alternative.

• Core Home Security Monitoring: You want something with a cellular connection, 24/7 monitoring to police, fire, and medical, and built in two-way voice in the keypad
• Outside Security Cameras: High quality cameras that will send you alerts and notifications, record video that you can review in the app on your phone
• Smart Home: Something that lets you control smart home devices like thermostats, door locks, and lights remotely from your phone

Home security monitoring is where I wouldn't compromise. You've had professional monitoring with Vivint that still works when the internet is down, and a panel the monitoring center can talk to you through. If the alarm goes off while you're in the house and you can't get to your phone, that voice coming through the keypad is your emergency response. A lot of cheaper DIY security kits leave it out, but this comes with both Cove and ADT.

ADT checks all three boxes. Cove checks the first two and skips the third, which is why it costs less. Which one is the best fit you mostly depends on if you want home automation or not.

Vivint Competitors Compared

Here's a quick look at how these two Vivint alternatives compare to each other and to Vivint.

	Vivint	ADT	Cove
Starting monthly price	$29.99	$42.99	$23
Monthly price with cameras	$5 extra per camera	$48.99 (no extra cost per camera)	$33 (no extra cost per camera)
Equipment starting price	$599	$369	$130
Installation	Professional	Professional	DIY
Contract	Month-to-month (if you pay for equipment upfront)	12 months minimum	Month-to-month
Touchscreen panel	Yes	Yes	Yes
Voice through the panel	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cameras keep working if you cancel	No	Yes	Yes
Deter mode	Yes	No	No
Home automation	Yes	Yes	No

Vivint's $29.99 starting price also looks better than it is. That covers basic monitoring and the app. Automation features bring it to $39 per month, and the cameras go on top of that. With two cameras I was paying $49 per month for Vivint.

Now compare that to ADT where it's only $48.99 per month no matter how many cameras you have. The same goes for Cove as well. It's only $33 per month even if you have 1 or 6 cameras.

Why ADT is the best alternative

ADT has the closest feature set to Vivint out of any security system. If you want to make the switch to a different provider but still want home automation and cameras, this is the system to get.

ADT is the largest and longest running security company, it comes with professional installation like the system you have now, and almost nothing about how you use it day to day changes.

Monitoring And The ADT Command Panel

Like Vivint, ADT systems are monitored through a cellular connection instead of a landline, which is a big plus.

It comes with a touchscreen keypad called the Command Panel that has two-way talk built in, just like the Vivint Smart Hub panel. This means that the monitoring rep can talk to you through your phone or your ADT panel. If a break-in is in progress and you're inside the home, they'll be able to communicate with you even if you can't answer your phone.

So the monitoring is basically the same as what you have with Vivint: 24/7 dispatch to police, fire, and medical. ADT has more behind it. It runs six monitoring centers across the U.S. and Vivint runs two, so there's more backup if one of them has an outage.

The Google Nest Cameras

ADT uses Google Nest cameras. They're very high quality, with great video, night vision, and they stream right to your phone. Just like Vivint. You don't get the deter mode like you do with Vivint cameras, but they still do a great job.

One of the big advantages to the ADT cameras is that since they're Google Nest cameras, If you ever cancel your ADT subscription, you'll still be able to use the cameras through the Google Home app. With Vivint, you lose access to the cameras in the app if you cancel your subscription.

Also, you don't pay an additional fee for each camera like you do with Vivint. You pay a flat rate of $48.99 per month whether you have one or six cameras.

I don't see many people bring that up when they compare Vivint vs ADT pricing. Vivint with automation is $39 per month plus $5 for each camera. With two cameras that's $49, about the same as ADT. With four it's $59, and with six it's $69 per month against ADT's $48.99. If you want the front door, the driveway, the backyard, and a couple of rooms inside covered, ADT is the cheaper system to own every month.

The Nest cameras can also run on battery, which Vivint's can't. If you want one on a shed or a corner of the house with no outlet nearby, you charge it and mount it.

You do give up two things. The big one is that Vivint's cameras whistle and flash at intruders, and the Nest cameras just record them and alert you. And if your Wi-Fi goes down, the Nest cameras record for about an hour and then stop, where Vivint's keep recording to the panel. If your internet drops a lot, think about that before you switch.

Smart Home Automation

ADT is compatible with any Z-Wave devices, just like Vivint. You can add smart door locks, thermostats, garage door controllers, smart light switches, etc. You'll be able to control them all from the ADT app, and you can even create "automations", like locking the doors and turning off the lights when the system is armed at night.

The ADT automation features are not as detailed as what you get with Vivint, but it's good enough to handle the most popular automations.

If you're a big nerd about this stuff and you've built automations with a lot of triggers and conditions, you'll notice ADT has fewer of them. In that case I'd tell you to stay with Vivint, because nobody else I've tested gets as granular. For for standard automation, ADT will get the job done.

Pricing And Contract

You'll pay $42.99 a month for the basic security system. Add cameras + smart home the price then goes up to $48.99 per month.

Equipment starts at $369 and you can finance it over 36 months. When I recorded my video, ADT was running a promotion for a free doorbell camera and a $100 Visa gift card.

The contract is the one place ADT is stricter than Vivint. There's a 12-month minimum even if you buy the equipment outright, and if you finance it, you keep the service for as long as there's a balance. Vivint lets you go month to month when you pay in full. Then again, Vivint's financing runs 42 or 60 months and ADT's tops out at 36, so if you were going to finance either way, ADT is the shorter commitment.

If you believe that ADT is a better fit for you, then be sure to give them a call. They are currently running a promotion for full home security with no upfront cost aside from the first month.

> > ADT Promo: Nest Doorbell Camera + Full Security at No Cost or call (866) 968-7164

Cove is the More Affordable Option

You can get all the core home security features of Vivint from Cove at a much more affordable price.

Like Vivint, Cove systems have a touchscreen panel with two-way voice built in. Cove systems use your home Wi-Fi connection but have a cellular backup if your power or internet goes out.

You still get 24/7 professional monitoring to police, fire, and medical, and the base station has a backup battery.

Cove's Security Cameras

Cove cameras have HD video, night vision, and two-way talk. You don't get the deter mode that Vivint offers, but overall I was impressed with the video quality and performance.

The outdoor camera records to an SD card and is powered by a solar panel. That means if your power or Wi-Fi goes down the camera will continue to record. I live in Central Florida so I didn't have any problems with the solar panel keeping the camera charged. But if you live in a part of the country that doesn't get a lot of sun you might want to think about that.

The cameras are made by Eufy, and the lineup is a doorbell, an indoor camera that pans and tilts, and the solar one for outside. They show up in the Cove app with the rest of the system, so you get the motion alerts, the live view, and the recorded clips in one place, and you can talk to whoever is at the door.

Two things here are better than Vivint. You can add as many cameras as you want and the monthly bill doesn't move. And they aren't locked to Cove: if you cancel the monitoring, you can sync them to the Eufy app and keep using them.

The con is that they only record clips when they detect motion. There's no 24/7 recording option like Vivint has. For most houses that's fine. If you rely on scrolling back through continuous footage, you'll miss it.

Don't let the DIY Installation deter you

Unlike Vivint, Cove is a DIY system. You'll need to install it yourself whereas with Vivint you'll have a tech do the install. It took me about three hours to install the entire system.

The thing you sacrifice with Cove is home automation. There's no way to control your smart locks or thermostats through the Cove system. For some people this may not matter and instead the savings outweigh the con.

If a technician did your Vivint install, the DIY installation might sound like a chore. It's less work than you'd think. The door and window sensors stick on with adhesive strips, so there are no tools and no holes, and that also makes Cove a good pick for renters. The one part that tested my patience was getting the cameras connected during setup. Once they were on, they stayed on.

As for the automation, the only rules Cove can run are security ones, like arming or disarming on a schedule. Your locks, thermostat, and lights won't be part of the system anymore. If you open the Vivint app every day to mess with those, Cove is going to feel like a step back, and ADT is the better move. If you mostly arm the system and check the cameras, you won't miss much.

Cove Security Pricing vs Vivint Pricing

Standard security monitoring costs $23 a month. If you add cameras, monitoring costs $33 per month. But $5 of that $33 goes into a credit on your account that you can use to purchase additional equipment.

So your true cost is only $28 a month if you have cameras. When I recorded my video, Cove was running a promotion for 70% off equipment plus a free indoor camera. I paid $250 for my system, which included three cameras and all the sensors.

To be specific, that $250 got me the panel, three cameras, door and window sensors, a motion sensor, and a glass break sensor. Vivint's equipment packages start at $599. Cove's start at $130.

I was paying $49 per month for Vivint with two cameras. Cove with cameras works out to $28. That's $21 a month, or about $250 a year, which is what the whole Cove system cost me. Vivint's price did include the automation features, so you are paying less for less. The security and the cameras are covered either way.

There's no contract, either. You pay for the equipment, the monitoring is month to month, and you can cancel whenever you want with no penalty.

> > Cove Promo: 70% OFF + Free Indoor Camera

If the Vivint bill is why you're here, check Cove's current deal before you do anything else.

Other Home Security Systems I Considered

Ring and SimpliSafe are popular home security systems, but I didn't include them in this comparison because they don't have two-way voice in their control panel and the cameras don't record if you don't have Wi-Fi.

I've tested both, and they're fine DIY security systems on their own terms. They just aren't an apples to apples swap for what you have with Vivint. A few specifics:

• Neither one has a touchscreen keypad. Both use push buttons.
• Ring's monitoring plans start at $20 per month and SimpliSafe's at $32.99.
• Both are DIY with no contract.

Cove costs about the same as either of them and keeps the touchscreen, the voice through the panel, and cameras that record through an outage. I have separate Vivint comparisons for both Ring and SimpliSafe if you want the full breakdown.

Which Should You Choose?

If the price of Vivint is the problem, and you want to continue to have a security system but spend less money, get Cove.

If you want all the features that you have with Vivint, including home automation, from a different provider, get ADT.

Here's the same verdict by the reason you're leaving:

• The monthly bill is too high and you don't use the automation features much: Cove, at $23 to $33 per month with no contract.
• You want a lot of cameras without paying $5 a month for each one: ADT, at a flat $48.99.
• You're done with Vivint's service or equipment and want the same setup from someone else: ADT again, since it's the only one of the two with professional installation and full home automation.

There's one case where I'd tell you to stay put. If deter mode and really detailed automations are the things you love about Vivint, neither of these replaces them, and better pricing won't make up for losing the features you use most.