Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Protect America provides self-installed home security and automation solutions and has serviced nearly half a million homes since 1992. The company offers 24/7 professional monitoring through Criticom Monitoring Services. Protect America's monthly fees range from $19.99 to $42.99, which includes free equipment such as a control panel, motion detectors, and door/window sensors. While many do-it-yourself security providers nickel and dime customers on equipment costs, Protect America provides free equipment with no upfront fee.

• Free Equipment
• Low Monthly Fee (as low as $19.99)
• Home Automation Features
• Lifetime Equipment Warranty
• 24/7 Landline, Cellular, and Broadband Monitoring

Free Equipment, Low Monthly Fee, Monitoring

In a sea of endless security provider options, Protect America beats out competitors on one of the most important factors: price. At a monthly cost as low as $19.99/month, customers get 24/7 professional monitoring and free equipment (one control panel, three door/window sensors, and a motion detector). Even for a do-it-yourself solution, this price is pretty incredible. While most self-installed security companies are able to provide low monthly monitoring fees, they usually make up for the savings in equipment costs.

Home Automation Features

At less than $20/month, you usually shouldn't expect home automation features; however, Protect America comes through on the wireless control options. Through the company's app, customers are able to view camera footage and control their security system, door locks (additional equipment cost) and lights/appliances (additional equipment cost) from a smartphone.

Lifetime Equipment Warranty

All equipment is covered by a lifetime warranty, meaning Protect America will ship replacement parts for all defective equipment at no charge to the customer. In addition, Protect America provides home security monitoring through landline (least expensive), broadband and cellular communication; it's a rarity for companies to provide all three in the residential security industry.

• Cellular Monitoring (Recommended) Starts at $41.99/Month
• 36-Month Contract
• Cancellation Terms

36-Month Contract

Perhaps the least appealing feature of Protect America is its 36-month contract. While lengthy contracts aren't unusual in the security industry, many do-it-yourself providers similar to Protect America have nixed contracts completely; however, a contract is likely where the company makes up for these risks.

Cancellation Terms

The terms of Protect America's contract aren't particularly forgiving either. If customers decide to cancel their contract before the 36-month term, Protect America requires them to pay the full remaining balance (many security providers only require customers to pay a percentage of the remaining balance).

Cellular Monitoring

And while the company flaunts monthly prices "as low as $19.99," the fine print informs us that this cost is for landline monitoring only. For customers who want cellular monitoring and remote access to their system, packages start at $41.99/month.

With low monthly fees, zero upfront costs, and a free moving option, Protect America is one of the most affordable home security solutions on the market today. Protect America offers an attractive lifetime warranty on its equipment, a full range of monitoring options, as well as home automation features; however, if you are not interested in signing a long-term contract (which can become expensive if you wish to cancel early), Protect America may not be the best fit. That said, this company will more than likely satisfy the majority of your home security needs, and all at a great price.