Product Library / Security Systems & Alarms

SimpliSafe Home Security System (Gen 3)

Compiled by SmartHomeWorkflow Research · SimpliSafe · Security Systems & Alarms · ~$282.94 ($282.94 is SimpliSafe's own list price for its entry package, browser-rendered from simplisafe.com's package shop on 2026-08-21, with a 50% promotion to $141.44 running ('ENDS SUNDAY — 50% off any new system with professional monitoring'). Never treated as a live price. ⚠ THE KIT'S NAME IS THE PART THAT MOVED, AND IT MATTERS MORE THAN THE FIGURE. This record previously called it 'the 6-piece "The Starter" kit'. SimpliSafe now serves TWO DIFFERENT PACKAGE LINE-UPS AT THE SAME URL — reads minutes apart in the same session returned, on one hand, kits named The Foundation / The Starter / The Hearth / The Beacon with piece counts, and on the other, three packages named for outcomes: Break-In Detection, Intruder Deterrence and Complete Protection. The $282.94 / $141.44 pair sits on 'Break-In Detection' in the second line-up, whose enumerated contents are Base Station, Keypad, three Entry Sensors, a Motion Sensor and a Yard Sign. Both names are recorded here because a buyer arriving from this page may be shown either one, and a page that names only the retired kit sends them looking for something they cannot see.)

Compatibility

Protocols: WIFI^[6][7]

What it can do^[13]

• Alexa: Arm only — Alexa cannot disarm this system — and the integration itself is gated behind a paid monitoring plan.
• Google Home: Arm only — Google cannot disarm this system — and the integration itself is gated behind a paid monitoring plan.
• Home Assistant: Arms AND disarms, unlike the voice assistants. Two documented limits: sensor status is available only on V3 systems, and it polls once every 30 seconds, so states lag.

Some of these may need a paid plan — see Subscription reality below.

Listed capabilities are what we could establish from vendor documentation. An ability missing here is unestablished — not necessarily absent.

Subscription reality^{[2][3][8][12][14][15]}

⚠ Works without a subscription: No — core features are paywalled.

• Free: Live camera video in the app, Remote arm and disarm from the app
• Behind a plan: Every smart-home integration, including Alexa and Google Home, Cellular network backup, Recorded video, 24/7 professional monitoring and emergency dispatch, Insurance discount and lifetime warranty (from $22.99/mo)
• Estimated 5-year subscription cost: ~$1379 at $22.99/mo — price verified 2026-08-21

Vendor account required: Not established — we have not sourced this yet.

Plans run Standard $22.99/mo · Core $32.99 · Pro $49.99 · Pro Plus $79.99, plus a $9.99 self-monitoring tier with camera recordings — all five figures confirmed on SimpliSafe's own support article on 2026-08-21. The monthly figure recorded here is the cheapest professionally monitored plan. ⭐ WHAT STILL WORKS WITHOUT A PLAN, answered by SimpliSafe itself: limited. The article now carries an 'Unmonitored' section that did not exist when this record was written: 'Some customers may choose to forego a monitoring plan and simply keep track of their system, and home, themselves. You still can access basic features without a plan - though you will need an internet connection to access these features.' So an unsubscribed system is not a brick, and SimpliSafe says so in its own words — limited rather than full, because the same page lists push notifications, SMS/text alerts, secret alerts and scheduled arming among the STANDARD PLAN's features, and 'Arm your system with Google Assistant or Alexa' among them too. ⚠ What is still not stated anywhere: whether an unsubscribed system pushes an alert when the siren actually goes off. 'Basic features' is not enumerated.

Maintenance reality

• Batteries: NiMH rechargeable backup (base station)
• Works without the internet: Partly — some of it keeps working and some of it does not. See the detail below.^[3]
• SimpliSafe states the base station holds up to 24 hours of backup power and switches to network backup automatically if Wi-Fi drops. The cellular radio is in the box but the service is plan-gated. Local siren and sensor alarming survive an internet outage; everything remote does not.

Security updates^[16]

SimpliSafe publishes no security-update support date for this model. That is a gap in what the manufacturer has published, not evidence either way — some makers declare a support period and some say nothing at all.

SimpliSafe publishes a support period and it is relative, UK-scoped, and tied to a device list this record cannot be matched to with certainty. Its Statement of Compliance under the UK PSTI Regulations (page last updated September 2024, document issued June 6 2024, signed by Jose I. Graziani, Senior Director of Firmware Engineering) declares a "Defined Support Period" of, verbatim, "At least 3 years from when the device first became available for sale on SimpliSafe.co.uk." Three things stop that becoming a date. It is a floor counted from a UK availability day SimpliSafe does not publish. The statement says of itself: "This Statement of Compliance is only applicable to Products sold in the UK." And it names five products by model number - Base Station [SSBS3], Wireless Indoor Camera [CM006], Wireless Outdoor Camera [CMOB1], Video Doorbell Pro [SSDB3], Wired Indoor Camera [SSCM1 and SSCM2] - none of which SimpliSafe's own US documentation states as the model number of the Gen 3 base station this record describes, so the match was left unestablished rather than assumed. On the US side, SimpliSafe documents how firmware reaches a Gen 3 system automatically and nowhere says for how long.

The catch

Every smart-home integration is behind a paid monitoring plan — Alexa and Google included — and even then neither can disarm the system, only arm it. Cellular backup is the same story: the radio ships inside the base station but stays inert without a plan. One thing we could not pin down and will not guess at: SimpliSafe's documentation never states plainly whether an unsubscribed system sends a push alert when the alarm triggers, which is the single most important question for anyone planning to self-monitor.

Who it's for

Households that intend to pay for monitoring and want a system that installs without tools. Anyone whose plan is to self-monitor for free, or who wants their alarm wired into an existing smart home, should read the subscription row first — this is where those two goals collide.

Sources & method

Numbered sources below back the facts marked with the matching number above. This is a research profile: compiled from manufacturer documentation, certification registries, and published testing — we state facts, not verdicts, and we have not physically tested this unit. How we work →

Compatibility and lifecycle information reflects the last-verified date above and can change without notice (firmware updates, cloud-service changes, discontinuations). It is provided as-is, for information — verify with the manufacturer before purchasing. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it. Full terms: Terms of Service.

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