How does Cove compare to ADT? - YouTube Video

A lot of people try to compare Cove to ADT. But are they really that similar? How do these security systems compare? In this video, we’ll dive into what makes Cove different from ADT. Keep in mind, we are comparing Cove to ADT in this video, not ADT Blu. We’ll make a separate video in the future comparing Cove to ADT Blu.

Hey guys, Doug here. I’m a husband, a father of five, and a security expert. I’ve worked in the industry almost 20 years, and have tested almost every security system there is. I’m now the host of Cove’s YouTube channel!

So what makes Cove different from ADT? Cove has no contracts, while ADT is contract-based. Cove is known for our Do-it-yourself setup, while ADT is a more traditional setup that needs professional installation. But their differences are deeper than that. Price, contracts, and customer experience are just some of the categories that sets Cove apart.

First, we’ll price out how much each system costs, and then we’ll walk through a feature comparison of the brands to see how they stack up against each other.

PACKAGE COMPARISON So let’s do a price comparison. We’ll act like we’re getting the same products for Cove and ADT and then evaluate the pricing.

For ADT, we’ll go with one of their standard packages. This package we will be selecting has: 1 Base Station, 3 Door/Window Sensors, 1 Motion Sensor, 1 Smoke & CO Detector, 3 Water Sensors, 1 Yale® Smart Lock, 1 Outdoor Nest Cam, 1 Indoor Nest Cam Indoor, and 1 Nest Cam with Floodlight. For this package, ADT charges $1,593.95.

For Cove, we’ll go ahead and build a package as close as possible to our ADT order. The only thing we’re leaving out is the smart lock - Cove doesn’t carry smart locks.

So for our Cove order, we’ll get 1 hub, 1 touchscreen panel, 3 window sensors, 1 motion detector, 1 smoke detector, 3 flood sensors, 1 indoor camera, 1 doorbell camera, and 1 outdoor solar camera. This comes out to $294.83 with our current sale.

So for very similar items, ADT is about 1300 dollars more than Cove. That’s incredible. The only difference between the two packages is that ADT comes with a smart lock which Cove doesn’t have. But is that difference worth a $1300 difference between the two systems? It seems unlikely.

Next we’ll dive into a feature comparison, so you can see what else sets Cove apart from ADT.

1. DIY Setup Cove is known for our DIY setup. DIY means Do it Yourself. Setup is easy and step-by-step instructions come included. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to set up Cove. Meanwhile, ADT is generally known for their professional installations, which cost between $99 and $199. So a Cove install is free, and ADT costs money to install.

2. Time of Setup For Cove, setup takes on average 27 minutes to complete. Cove doesn’t require wiring or drilling of holes to install. On the other hand, ADT installation can take hours to complete, and usually involves a professional installer drilling holes in your home.

3. Contract Cove has no contracts, so if you are ever unhappy, you can cancel at any time, with no cancellation fees. ADT does have cancellation fees, and they typically require a multi-year contract, so you are locked into paying ADT for years if you sign up with them. Not ideal, especially if you move a lot.

4. 24/7 Professional Monitoring Both Cove and ADT have similar professional monitoring available to customers. The difference is with Cove, you can get professional monitoring without a contract. Cove uses RapidSOS to communicate with the police and emergency services, which improves the response time by several minutes. Cove also has 24/7 customer support.

5. Customization Options Both Cove and ADT let you build a system around your needs. With Cove you can get exactly the products you need on our website. You can pick from cameras, smoke detectors, motion detectors, and more, and customize it to your home. ADT is similar -- you can customize a quote with an ADT rep to get the products your home needs.

6. In-App Monitoring Both Cove and ADT have In-App Camera Monitoring. This means that with both ADT and Cove, you can watch a live feed of your cameras from your phone. Cove also has a touchscreen panel that can stream live video, which ADT does not have.

7. Subscription Cost When it comes to subscription cost, Cove and ADT are similar, but ADT is a bit more expensive. Here at Cove, our plans all include professional monitoring, which will notify the police or medical services in an emergency. Cove's professional monitoring starts at $22.99/month for our basic plan, and goes up to $42.99/month for our Premium plan. Our basic plan covers monitoring for sensors, our plus plan includes support for cameras, and our premium plan includes contextual AI alerts like “Man in yellow shirt outside door with dog”. These contextual alerts are super helpful so you know what is going on outside of your house. For professional monitoring plans, ADT ranges from $49.99/month to $59.99/month. Seems like Cove is more affordable month-to-month.

8. Equipment Cost We went over equipment cost earlier in this video. Our Cove system cost $294 while the equivalent package from ADT cost $1,593. That’s significantly more expensive for the same equipment. It’s not just this ADT package. We are confident to say that overall, Cove is cheaper than ADT for equipment.

9. Build Quality When it comes to build quality, Cove and ADT have similar durability and longevity. Cove products are high quality and engineered to last through years of daily use. ADT products are similar to Cove’s products. This does raise the question: if ADT’s equipment is similar in quality to Cove’s equipment, then why does it cost so much more?

10. Customer Rating Lastly, let’s look at customer rating. How do customers rate Cove and ADT? On TrustPilot, Cove has 4.6 stars and more than 7,600 reviews. Sounds like Cove is a brand you can trust. On the other hand, ADT has 1.2 stars on Trustpilot with 5,000 reviews. That’s pretty fishy if you ask me. Why are they rated so low?

Well, that was our comparison between ADT and Cove. A lot of things are similar, but it seems like Cove is the clear choice. Not only is Cove more affordable, but it’s much better rated by customers. It’s also easier to setup, and we don’t lock you into contracts.

As you’ve seen from this video, Cove is a great deal, and offers some serious protection.

How did we do in this video? We’d love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Until next time, this is Doug with Cove, signing off.