American Defense Systems Monitoring Plans
| Plan | Price | Promo Price | Contract Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Interactive | $29/mo | - | 36 mo |
| Smart Security & Video | $34/mo | - | 36 mo |
Monitoring Plans Explained
Why Are The Plans Inexpensive?
American Defense Systems offers some of the least expensive professional monitoring plans in the market. The most basic starts at only $29 per month, while the most advanced plan will only cost you $34 on a monthly basis. Why are American Defense Systems' plans this cheap? Because it doesn't include equipment. Other companies include hundreds of dollars worth of "free equipment" in their monitoring plans. Although advertised as free, the equipment cost is actually added on top of the monthly monitoring fee.
American Defense Systems sells its equipment separately, which you have to pay upfront upon signing the contract. It's a good thing for a couple of reasons. First, it brings down the monthly fee. Second, you're in total control of which devices to buy. However, this setup also has downsides. Because the devices are sold a la carte instead of as part of equipment bundles, they are sold at the regular price. A security system can easily cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. That's a huge investment considering you have to pay it upfront.
If you'd rather pay a slightly higher monthly fee than pay hundreds of dollars upfront, American Defense Systems offers an option. You can finance the equipment cost at 0% APR payable in three years. Getting your equipment financed will bring down the upfront cost to $0, but will raise your monthly fee. The increase depends on the total cost of your equipment.
Choosing The Right Equipment For Your Monitoring Plan
It's also worth noting that the type of equipment you can purchase depends on your monitoring plan. If you're on the Interactive Security plan, your options are limited to security sensors (door/window sensors, motion sensors, glass break sensors) and environment sensors (smoke alarms, CO detectors, flood sensors). If you're on the Smart Security plan, you may add smart home devices (smart thermostat, smart lock, smart lights, smart outlets) to your system. If you're on the Smart Security & Video plan, you can purchase any equipment you want, including cameras.
A Contract Is Required
American Defense Systems requires a three-year monitoring agreement, which means you have to pay for monitoring for three years. Cancelling the service while you're still under the contract term will subject you to penalties, equivalent to your monthly monitoring rate multiplied by the number of months remaining on your contract. For example, if your monthly fee is $30 and you cancel with eight more months on your contract term, the penalty will amount to $240. In addition, you'll be required to pay the remaining equipment cost if you had it financed.
Professional Installation Only
Besides the contract, American Defense Systems requires professional installation of the equipment. A technician will bring the system to your home, install it, activate it, and then walk you through its features. You don't have to do anything, but you have be at home for the installation.
