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worthing's profile

Monday, June 5th, 2023 4:21 PM

Questions About New Plan Pricing, Features, Etc.

I was just made aware of this link which details new SimpliSafe plan names, pricing and what appears to be changes in functionality:

https://support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-events-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options/6344794a013ba90af0bce6a4

There's also additional information at the link below but you have to click a few times to get to see all of the plans:

https://simplisafe.com/features-alarm-monitoring#monitoring-plan-comparison

I was going to ask a bunch of questions but then I realized I'm tired of doing your legwork for you, SimpliSafe. Please provide a list of all of the changes for all of the tiers.  (A changelog, if you will.) It's ridiculous that the article has been live for 4 days and I haven't seen a single email, blog post, etc. about it.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

1 year ago

Hi @worthing, 

Our Standard Monitoring and Self-Monitoring plans have not changed in name, price, or functionality, but our Interactive Monitoring plan has been renamed to Fast Protect™. The Fast Protect™ monitoring plan has all the same features of Interactive Monitoring, but it also includes 24/7 live guard protection for the new Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera.  

 

For new customers, Fast Protect™ is now $29.99 a month, but customers who subscribed to our Interactive Monitoring plan prior to this change will not be charged that new price at this time. 

(edited)

7 Messages

@emily_s​ Oops, it's $31.99 now just less than one year later. Congratulations! You're now the most expensive security monitoring option in my local market. The thing is, if I go with a different company, they don't nickel and dime me for products. They just provide the products rolled up into the monthly price - which is now less than $31.99. 

The "affordability" aspect of Simple Safe just went out the window. I feel like I've been robbed. How ironic!!!

728 Messages

1 year ago

In January of 2022 the price for the interactive plan jumped $3 without, as I recall, a single new feature. (Unlike the other plans which did gain functionality.) Now it's June 2023 and the price is jumping another $2 a month and only adding one feature that also requires customers to spend at least $139.99 for one of the new Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera. I have questions. :)

First, why can't the live guard protection work with existing cameras that you all sell so people interested in that functionality don't have to spend additional money? Is it a technical issue or a fiscal issue? Also is there any chance that functionality will become available for any other cameras in the future?

Second, the price for Fast Protect customers has gone up $5 in roughly 18 months which is an increase of about 20% in total over what we were paying before the price hike in January of 2022. That seems like a lot for only adding one single feature for the tier. Can we (Fast Protect customers specifically) expect any other love in terms of new or improved functionality anytime soon?

Finally, why did you all decide to charge everyone in the Fast Protect tier for a service they may or may not use? Is there any chance at all that we might see some level of a la carte so we don't have to pay for stuff we don't want? Especially since Fast Protect customers are already paying almost 2x what the tier beneath them pays and more than 2x what the bottom tier pays.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@worthing​ 24/7 live guard protection is only available with the Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera right now as it is currently the only camera that allows for that setting. It is purely technical, not fiscal. Right now, we do not have any news about 24/7 live guard protection becoming available for our other camera models, but if that ever changes we will let our customers know.

We are continuously adding features to our monitoring plans to ensure our customers receive top of the line protection and innovation. Outside of 24/7 live guard protection, we also rolled out the new Snooze Notifications, Arming Reminders, and Scheduled Arming features to our Fast Protect™ users within the year. That progress is not stopping! We are continuing to invest in providing our customers with the best home security, and we're excited to introduce more products and features.

We don’t have a roadmap for an à la carte system for our monitoring plans. We understand that many of our Interactive Monitoring customers are satisfied with their current services; that’s why we have made the decision to keep the monthly cost of Fast Protect, even with its added benefits, the same for our current Interactive Monitoring customers ($27.99/month) at this time. Billing changes will never take effect without customers being contacted by email first.

Customers who are new to SimpliSafe or new to Fast Protect will be billed at our new Fast Protect price of $29.99/month. As a home security company dedicated to our mission of making every home secure, we must continue to invest in and introduce new products, features, and professional monitoring functionality that provide the best experience and keep our customers as safe as possible. We remain committed to doing so at an affordable price point.

728 Messages

Thanks for the detailed and quick response. I do have a follow up question though. Can you give more detail about the technical limitations that prevent other cameras from working with 24/7 Live Guard? You have multiple cameras that offer interactive audio and by definition all of your cameras allow someone to remotely view footage. What does the new camera have that say, the Outdoor Camera doesn't? Or is this a software issue and not a hardware issue?

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Hi @worthing ,

Everything that we do is about making our customers and their homes safer than ever, and that includes making sure that every new product and feature that we introduce delivers enhanced protection.

For the launch of 24/7 live guard protection, we really wanted to prioritize and nail down an indoor camera that could best support our shift from just detecting intrusion, to agent intervention in real time. The existing SimpliCam indoor camera does have features that help turn detection into action, for example being able to send secure recordings to professional monitoring agents during an alarm (for those who opt-in to Video Verification). But we needed to build the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera to enable further innovations like secure livestreaming to agents, superior audio quality, and intelligent motion detection, that are vital for making 24/7 live guard protection a success.

In terms of further innovations, the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera is just the beginning, and we are continuously evaluating how we can provide meaningfully better whole home security and protection. Stay tuned right here on the Community for more news in the future.

7 Messages

1 year ago

The name of the plan has changed to Fast Protect, so +$3 that's really quite funny... at my expense. If you're looking into SS, look elsewhere. 

3 Messages

1 year ago

Another price increase. No grandfathering, price lock, customer loyalty, nothing. After getting the 2023 price increase email I started shopping again. A year of basic monitoring, paid in advance for R_ng costs 16.65% less per month than does SimpliSafe. Being loyal gets you nothing but a thinner wallet. Leave.

7 Messages

Less than one year later, mid 2024, and we've got another. 

Yeah, that's it for me. I've already got a plan picked out with a competitor. 

What a sad story for what seemed like a legit company at first. 

3 Messages

I had forgotten about posting here.
If you have cellular home internet look at Wy_e. Professional monitoring $9.99/mo. There’s no guarantees they too won’t raise prices, but the last time they did the increase was only for new subscribers. No price increase for existing customers. 

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