Blue by ADT Equipment and Compatibility

Blue by ADT is a no-contract, DIY offering from the world's most recognizable security company. The DIY installation cuts equipment costs drastically and saves you the trouble of scheduling service appointments.

While it doesn't have as many equipment options and services as professionally installed ADT systems, Blue by ADT offers plenty of coverage for most homes. We're big fans of its support for third-party smart home devices—especially Z-Wave.

Here's a quick guide to the equipment options and prices you can expect from a Blue by ADT system. Check out our full Blue by ADT review if you want more information about its monitoring, mobile app, installation, and customer service.

Every Blue by ADT starter kit comes with a hub that includes a built-in keypad for arming and disarming your system—with more expensive plans including sensors for doors, windows, and motion. All of the kits are customizable with extra sensors to fit your situation (a sensor for every window, perhaps?).

The Blue by ADT Hub manages your system, tracks connected sensors, and calls professional monitoring for assistance during an alarm event (if you decide to pay for monitoring). It includes a 24-hour battery and cellular backup to keep your system going during a power outage—the cellular backup requires a subscription.

By connecting your hub to Wi-Fi, you can use the Blue by ADT app on your mobile device and connect your security system to smart home platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant^*, and IFTTT.

In addition to the hub, Blue by ADT sells three sensors: motion detectors, flood sensors, and entry sensors. These sensors are affordable additions to your system and help it cover homes of any size, but you don't have as many options as most other DIY security systems. If you want different types of devices in your system, you can buy one of Blue by ADT's security cameras or a third-party smart home product.

Blue by ADT has several types of security cameras that cover indoors, outdoors, and the porch. These cameras aren't too different from competitors like Ring and Wyze, but the Blue Indoor Camera is a bit more expensive than similar indoor-only cameras.

We like that you can use the cameras without paying for professional monitoring. Still, Blue by ADT doesn't include video storage in the professional monitoring plan (beyond the free 24-hour cloud storage with every camera). If you want extra storage without a subscription, you can put a microSD card in the Blue Indoor Camera or Blue Wireless Outdoor Camera to keep the local video.

Learn more in our ADT Blue Wireless Outdoor Camera review.

Whether you pay for a Blue by ADT plan or monitor on your own, you can round off your system with smart home devices from third-party manufacturers. You can use some of these devices (Z-Wave) in the Blue by ADT app, while others work independently to control your Blue by ADT gear through smart speakers and voice commands.

Blue by ADT doesn't sell many sensors and devices compared to other DIY security systems, so Z-Wave devices are the best way to add more gadgets to your system. It works with many Z-Wave devices, including smart lights, smart outlets, smart locks, smart thermostats, and garage door openers.

There are some limitations with Z-Wave on Blue by ADT systems—you won't find support for door sensors, motion sensors, or flood sensors (basically devices Blue by ADT already sells, which isn't competitive for other brands but alternatively might eliminate compatibility issues for vital sensors).

Using IFTTT with Blue by ADT opens up compatibility beyond typical smart home products, but it's very niche. The main argument for using IFTTT is if you own a product that's not compatible with your system through Alexa or Google Assistant (or if you don't use them at all).

Blue by ADT's website has several examples of using IFTTT to make your system work with Philips Hue, Lutron, Sonos, and iRobot. We like the idea of a Roomba vacuuming only when your Blue by ADT system is in away mode.

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