I have a series 2 Simplisafe alarm system and will soon be replacing or upgrading it. The Simplisafe system has been pretty good but the HA integration is not the most reliable and needs to be reconfigured pretty regularly. The system is several years old and just needs to be updated.
Here are the most important things that I want in a new alarm system:
Reliable integration to HA. Hopefully with a supported integration if possible.
Ability for HA to see individual contact sensors and motion sensors and for those sensors report their status to HA.
I have looked at the Ring Alarm and the new Simplisafe system. I have also seen systems from ADT, Vivent, and Wyze. I’m pretty sure Wyze will never be available in HA (I had the Wyze contact sensors working in HA but I know those are no longer sold). I’m not sure what they other systems are capable of within HA, so I’m hoping ya’ll will tell me what systems you are happy with and any recommendations.
I switched from an Alarm.com based provider to Abode, and have really been happy with it. They operate similarly to Simplisafe, in that you buy and install devices on your own, and can then pay for monitoring. I briefly tried Simplisafe, and while the devices were maybe a little more attractive, it seemed too limited. Abode integrated pretty nicely, and I’ve never had any trouble with it. I have door sensors, and motion sensors that all show up in HA reliably. I use the door sensors on my exterior doors as well as certain interior doors for automations. In Abode, you are able to set individually which sensors should chime/trigger alarms/etc. Other devices like the keypad, glass break, siren, etc show in HA, but only give a connected status.
Abode’s keypad also has z-wave built in if that interests you. I haven’t used it, as I already have a z-wave set up I’m happy with, but that might be a selling point. Another thing that Abode won me over with was working with me while I was trying to decide between systems. For example, they weren’t able to match the upfront costs of Simplisafe, but were able to work with me on the monitoring plan to bring the overall costs down.