ADT or Verisure? An Installer's Honest Comparison — and the Third Option Nobody Sells You
By the DC Fire & Security engineering team — installing and maintaining fire and security systems since 2010. Updated July 2026.
Quick answer
ADT and Verisure are both legitimate, professionally monitored alarm companies — and both sell fundamentally the same deal: a subscription relationship, not an alarm purchase. Expect roughly £30–£60+ per month, multi-year minimum terms, and proprietary equipment that stops being useful (Verisure) or needs takeover negotiation (ADT) if you leave. ADT is the long-established name with the bigger engineering network; Verisure is the fast-growing challenger known for assertive direct sales and its ZeroVision smoke-screen response. The comparison most people never get shown: an independent certificated installer, where you own an open-protocol system outright for a one-off cost and add monitoring only if you want it.
The two business models (this explains everything else)
ADT operates the classic national-monitoring model: professional survey and install, equipment often subsidised into the agreement, then a monthly package covering monitoring and (depending on tier) maintenance, on a minimum term that's commonly measured in years. It's a mature machine with a genuine engineer network behind it.
Verisure runs a subscription-first model built around its own proprietary ecosystem: their sensors, their panel, their receiving centre, sold hard through direct and door-step channels, with headline features like ZeroVision (a security fog that fills the room on confirmed intrusion). The equipment is not designed to run independently — stop subscribing and the system's purpose largely goes with it.
Neither model is a scam; both are subscription businesses whose economics depend on you staying subscribed. Every strength and every complaint about each company flows from that fact.
Side by side, without the brochure gloss
| ADT | Verisure | Local certificated installer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost shape | Install fee + roughly £30–£60/mo depending on package | Install fee + roughly £30–£60/mo; promotional pricing common in year one | One-off install (small systems from around £600–£1,200); monitoring optional from ~£150/yr |
| Minimum term | Multi-year minimum terms are standard — read the specific offer | Multi-year commitments standard; cancellation terms are the single most-reported friction point | None as standard |
| Who owns the kit | Depends on package — often the package, not you | Verisure's proprietary system; limited use outside their subscription | You, outright |
| If you leave | System can sometimes be taken over by another company, depending on equipment and era | Equipment generally can't be adopted by another provider | Nothing changes — it's yours; any certificated firm can service it |
| Police response | Yes — URN via certificated install + ARC | Yes — URN via certificated install + ARC | Yes — identical mechanism (how URNs work) |
| Response extras | Keyholder/response options by package | ZeroVision fog + guard response in some areas | ARC monitoring, keyholder response via local partners — specced to need |
| Servicing | Included in higher tiers | Included in subscription | £90–£180/yr, or pay-per-visit |
What the costs look like over five years
Subscription models compound quietly. At £40/month, five years is £2,400 before any install fee — and the subscription continues for as long as you want a working system. A locally installed Grade 2 system for a typical house — owned outright, with optional app monitoring at £150/yr and a service visit at £90–£180/yr — lands somewhere around £1,500–£2,500 over the same five years, after which the ongoing cost falls to servicing alone while the subscription route keeps billing.
That's not automatically a win for the local route: ADT and Verisure bundle a receiving centre, response arrangements and replacement hardware into the monthly fee, and for some households the hands-off package is exactly what they want. The point is to compare five-year totals, not this month's promotion — the full burglar alarm cost guide runs the numbers for each route.
The contract clauses to read twice, whichever brand you choose
- Minimum term and what ends it — the number of months, what happens at renewal, and whether the price steps up after the promotional period
- Exit costs — what you owe if you cancel early, move house, or sell up; moving-house terms generate a large share of real-world complaints for both brands
- Who owns the equipment at the end — and specifically whether the system functions at all without the subscription
- Price-rise mechanics — annual increase clauses (fixed % or index-linked) are standard in subscription security; know yours before signing
- What 'maintenance included' includes — batteries, sensors and call-outs, or a subset with charges on top
- Response reality for your postcode — guard response and fog systems vary by area; ask what actually happens at 3am at your address
Where each option genuinely fits
Pick ADT or Verisure if you want one national brand handling everything on a monthly bill, you're comfortable with a multi-year commitment, and equipment ownership doesn't matter to you. Between the two: ADT's case is heritage and network depth; Verisure's is its response package — judge both on the specific contract in front of you, not the badge.
Pick a local certificated installer if you want to own an open system that any competent firm can service, keep monitoring optional, avoid minimum terms, and have the person who installed it answer the phone next year. Insurance and police-response eligibility are identical when the installer is NSI or SSAIB certificated — certification, not brand size, is what those systems check.
And if you already have a big-brand system and the contract has run its course: ADT-era equipment can often be taken over and re-commissioned rather than replaced; Verisure equipment generally can't, but a replacement owned system frequently costs less than another contract cycle. Either way a takeover survey is free and tells you which camp you're in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, ADT or Verisure?
How much does Verisure actually cost?
Does a Verisure alarm work if I cancel the subscription?
Can another company take over an ADT alarm?
Do ADT and Verisure alarms get police response?
What's the cheapest way to get a proper monitored alarm?
The third option: own your alarm, skip the subscription treadmill
We install SSAIB-certificated Orisec systems across Luton, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and North London — you own the equipment outright, monitoring is optional (from £150/yr for app-based), servicing is £90–£180/yr, and there's no multi-year contract. Same police-response eligibility as the big brands, without the exit clauses.
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