Can SimpliSafe be integrated with other smart devices nicely?

As you all know that I have been using SimpliSafe in my rented apartment since last six months now. Therefore, I thought of integrating it with other smart products that I am using. To be truthful, I am using just 3 smart products currently, these are Nest Thermostat, August Smart Lock as my front door lock and Amazon’s Alexa for controlling all my smart devices.

It is really difficult to choose smart devices that works with SimpliSafe as all of them are not compatible. I had to do a lot of research before going for smart devices for my home and so I thought of sharing these products and the knowledge that I got in this processes.

SimpliSafe 2 and SimpliSafe 3 can get integrated with most of the smart devices but for this you will have to go for an Interactive Plan which costs around $25 per month.

Smart products have really changed the lifestyle of people and almost every one of us are looking for the smart products that could make their home a SMART HOME.

But for doing this, you require several products like Thermostat for controlling temperature, (better if you could get a learning thermostat), smart lights, doorbells and locks.

The only thing that makes all these products easier to handle and use is integration of these products with each other and voice control systems like Alexa and Google Home.

SS2 vs SS3

Devices	SS2	SS3
SimpliCam	Yes	Yes
Video Doorbell	Yes	Yes
Nest	Yes	Yes
August Smart Lock	Yes	Yes
Amazon Alexa	X	Yes
Google Assistant	X	Yes
Apple Homekit	X	Promised for an Update
Outdoor cameras	X	Promised for an Update

SimpliSafe 3 is the latest device from the company and there is no doubt that SS3 is far better than SS2 when it comes to integrating with other smart devices. So, if you already have SimpliSafe 3 then you have grabbed the best one for you and if you are considering to purchase one then you must go for SimpliSafe 3.

SimpliSafe 2 is often called as SimpliSafe original. SimpliSafe original is an older one and therefore there are a lot of smart functionalities that you cannot expect with this older one. On the other hand, SimpliSafe 3 comes with a lot of smart functionalities and abilities which makes it a far better choice than SimpliSafe original.

Each and every updates are rolled to the latest devices first and therefore there are high changes that the future updates will roll on for SimpliSafe 3 making it more integration friendly.

SimpliSafe has also promised to provide future integrations with many other smart devices and probably these changes will come for SS3 first.

If you look at the prices of the SS2 and SS3, you will find out that there is not much difference. So, why SS2 is still in market?

Probably there is still a good market of SimpliSafe Original/SS2, either because of the high first time set up cost or because people don’t have a choice to use both original and SimpliSafe 3 together. So, unless they are really very eager to go with the latest smart devices, they wouldn’t upgrade their system.

However, smart people really know the benefit of using the latest smart device and they have changed their old SimpliSafe orginal to SimpliSafe 3.

SimpliSafe Subscription Plans: Free vs Standard Vs Interactive

All DIY Security systems either it is Ring, Nest or SimpliSafe comes with free as well as paid plans with more benefits and features.

SimpliSafe come with three such plans. One is a free plan while two others Standard and Interactive are paid plans.

But with the first two plans i.e, No subscription and Standard, you could not be able to integrate other smart devices to SimpliSafe. If you need integration with smart devices, then you will have to go with interactive plans.

	No Subscription	Standard	Interactive
Price	Free	$14.99/month	$24.99/month
24/7 Monitoring	X	Yes	Yes
SMS/Email Alerts	X	$5/month	Yes
Cellular connection	X	Yes	Yes
Arm/Disarm remotely	X	X	Yes
Live video Streaming	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recorded Video History	$4.99 per month per camera or $9.99 per month unlimited cameras	$4.99 per month per camera or $9.99 per month unlimited cameras	Yes, with no extra charges
Contract	X	No	No
Alexa	X	X	With SS3 only
Google Home	X	X	With SS3 only
August Smart Lock	X	X	Requires August Smart WIFI
Nest Thermostat	X	X	Yes

The above table clearly shows that a user willing to go for a true smart home will have to go with the Interactive plan. Yes, the plan has a lot of additional benefits and features but at the same time comes with a high price at $24.99/month.

The standard plan is a bit less costly and comes at just $179.88/year but still you do not get all the benefits with this plan and it seems that the user going with this plan has to suffer.

However, Interactive plan costs around $299.88/year but provides you integration of SimpliSafe with Alexa, Google Assistant, Nest Thermostat and August Smart Locks.

The Interactive plan is costly but I think it worth paying if you know that even you are at your bed and forget to arm your system, you don’t need to get up and do manually. Just a simple instruction to Alexa can do this for you.

Devices That can be Integrated with SimpliSafe

Nest Thermostat

Nest Thermostat is easily integrated with SimpliSafe Original and SimpliSafe SS3 security system.

Using Nest Thermostat is really super and with Nest learning ability, it can know when you are away and when you are at home. The Thermostat can even understand your behaviour and adjust temperature accordingly which saves a lot of energy and costs less to your pocket.

So, when you arm the SimpliSafe system, it comes to know that you are away and when you disarm the SimpliSafe system Nest comes to know that you are at home.

Even though, integration of Simplisafe and Nest Thermostat is possible, Nest Cams can’t be integrated with SimpliSafe. This is more likely due to the competition between Nest and SimpliSafe.

Nest has their own outdoor cameras whereas SimpliSafe has just come with a promise to come with an outdoor camera and therefore, SimpliSafe is not allowing integration of SimpliSafe with NestCams.

It is more likely possible that if SimpliSafe allows the integration of Nest cams and Simplisafe then it would lose its outdoor camera prospects.

Amazon Alexa

The Amazon Alexa is one of the best smart assistants and was the first also. It has reached to millions of houses and revolutionized the whole security market.

Alexa can integrate with your smart devices and talk to them and even control them.

If you have a Nest Thermostat and Amazon’s Alexa then you can ask Alexa to adjust temperature of the house and it will be done in seconds.

There are smart devices that comes from different companies and not all of them connect with each other automatically. But, if they can all connect with Alexa then together they can make a home smarter.

Google Home

As soon Amazon came with Alexa, Google announced its own voice assistant, Google Home. Nest is a Google owned security company and therefore all the products from Nest support Google Home.

All the best products cannot come from a single brand and therefore, having each and every product from different company and controlling them via their Apps can create a lot of problems.

Having all smart products that can be integrated with voice assistant like Google Home and Alexa can make all the difference for a user.

So, Do SimpliSafe integrates to Google Home? Not all the previous old systems but SS3 easily integrates with both Google Home and Alexa.

You can use both of them to arm your security system via your voice. You just have to say “hey Google, Am I protected” and your system gets armed.

But, till date you cannot disarm your system using any of the above Voice assistants. According to some user and some of the SimpliSafe statements, people are believing that it could start happening shortly but there is no clear official statement from SimpliSafe.

August Smart lock

The August Smart Lock is one of the best smart locks that I ever come to know about. I don’t have any doubt on it and people who would have been using this wouldn’t have any doubts too.

For SimpliSafe users, it’s a big deal that they can use August Smart Lock and integrate it with SimpliSafe.

The integration is bit complicated and you require a WiFi bridge for the integration. The WIFI costs around $80 which can be a little annoying to some users.

People who really want a smart home don’t bother about a bit additional cost as they know the benefits of integration.

August Smart lock is really very smart and can lock and unlock door once you approach the door. The lock can also well integrate with Alexa, Google and Siri.

SimpliSafe Promises

Even SimpliSafe 3 has come up with a lot of smart functionalities and abilities, there are many features or you can say the abilities which are important but still pending in SimpliSafe 3.

However, SimpliSafe has promised to come up with these updates soon.

Let’s see what are the updates that SimpliSafe has promised.

Integration with Apple HomeKit

If you have any of the Apple Homekit products like Philips Hue or others, they won’t integrate with SimpliSafe now.

Once SimpliSafe provides the integration with Apple Homekit, it would really be very easy to control your smart devices. You would be able to arm or disarm the alarm system or your lights will automatically turn off once to arm the alarm system and leave your house. Similarly, your lights would be welcoming for you once you enter the room.

SimpliSafe has promised the integration but the date is still not clear. However, a positive response has been seen and SimpliSafe can now be integrated with Apple smart watch and now you could be able to arm or disarm your home with the Apple Smart Watch.

This collaboration with Apple Smart Watch is an intent to show users that SimpliSafe is going to keep their promises.

Outdoor cameras from SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe has not come up with their cameras designed for outdoor monitoring with higher and better experience.

Simplicam is the single camera that you can get from SimpliSafe and this one is only for indoor monitoring. You can check out your home from anywhere but only from inside.

SimpliSafe’s Video Doorbell Pro is a video doorbell and only shows you the exterior of the door and person standing at your door and cannot detect motion beyond 45 feet. This is the highest distance that it can detect a motion.

I think this is the biggest downfall of SimpliSafe that it has not yet introduced an outdoor camera which is specially designed for outdoor monitoring. However, its competitors like Nest and Ring both have designated outdoor cameras.

But the fact that we have to deal with is that SimpliSafe doesn’t get integrated with NestCams which makes the life even difficult. This is something that I also want to be fixed as I have no option to go with an outdoor camera, SimpliSafe doesn’t offer and I can’t integrate it with others.

However, SimpliSafe has promised that they would be releasing their outdoor cameras soon but it is still unclear when it will be released. But there is no doubt that once they are released in the market, there is going to be a huge demand.

Integrating Alarm System with Voice Commands

Alexa and Google Assistant can’t be used to arm or disarm the security system. They can be integrated with SimpliSafe but not use voice commands to control the alarm system.

The users who wants to go with a full smart home are really not happy with this.

However, those users who have an experience about security system know that voice integration can be a little risky.

SimpliSafe competitors like Nest and Ring have already faced a lot of security breaches and maybe due to this SimpliSafe is playing a safe game and trying to keep a safe distance and therefore not allowing users to disarm their security system through voice commands.

Consideration

SimpliSafe cannot be integrated nicely with other smart security systems.

They have made promises that their users expect from them and therefore, users are still waiting patiently to complete their promises instead of having a solution of getting other smart devices integrated.

SimliSafe is playing a high market capitalization game and therefore not allowing users to integrate the competitors’ devices with their security system. They are trying to keep their customers loyal to them.

However, there are several users who are just finding ways to integrate it with other devices and some of them have even reported that this is possible with IFTTT but still it is just a short term fix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SimpliSafe Cheaper than ADT?

If you look at the initialset up cost, then you would feel SimpliSafe as costly than ADT. However, in the long run SimpliSafe becomes lot cheaper than ADT.

Do SimpliSafe need WiFi to work?

No, SimpliSafe doesn’t require WiFi or any landline connection to work. It comes with a cellular network which is specially designed and secured to use. This is probably done by Simplisafe because of the vulnerability that WIFI can bring to the security system. So, you are more secured if not using WIFI for your security system.

How many sensors can you connect with SimpliSafe system?

Including all the devices you can connect up to 100 which would include Keypads as well as siren.

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