For those who can pay for their equipment up front, Vivint wins for contract flexibility. If you don't finance your Vivint equipment, you can pay for monitoring month by month, making it a great option if you don't want to be stuck with a long-term contract.
But keep in mind that if you do finance the equipment, you'll be locked into a monitoring contract that can last for 3.5 or 5 years, depending on how quickly you want to pay off your equipment.
No matter what kind of ADT system you choose, you'll have to sign a monitoring contract with ADT before your system is installed. Contracts last a minimum of three years, and you'll also have to pay for the cost of leasing the equipment up front.
ADT stands out from Vivint for its customer guarantees, more lenient cancellation policy, and around-the-clock customer service backed by more than 140 years of experience. Its good customer reviews and many loyal long-term customers are solid indications that ADT stands by its products.
ADT's six-month money-back guarantee means that if a technical product issue is identified within six months after you sign the contract, you'll receive a full refund, including monitoring fees.
Nobody really wins for ADT or Vivint cancellation terms, though (including you). ADT charges 75% of the remaining contract terms for cancellations. That’s a little more generous than Vivint, which requires you pay back 100% of the remaining balance on your contract if you have one.
Learn more about what to expect in our Vivint cancellation and ADT cancellation guides.
It takes only one look at Vivint’s offerings to see that Vivint is all about smart home automation . The company earned top marks on the Best Home Security Systems and the Best Smart Home Security Systems because of its focus on making security smarter with clever features on its cutting-edge devices. And you get all that smart home integration from Vivint for less each month than you would with ADT.
Vivint devices all use Z-Wave technology so they're compatible with a wide variety of other smart products on the market, including Amazon Echo, Nest®, Google Home, and doorbell cameras.