With Nest, you have to buy your security equipment upfront or pay for it in monthly installments, regardless of whether you want professional monitoring or not. Monthly professional monitoring plans start at $19.99/mo. with a three-year contract with Brinks, or month-to-month for $29.99/mo.. Protection 1 provides all your equipment free when you enter a contract for three years of professional monitoring service. At $34.99 per month, you get the Secure Package for a basic alarm system, and for $54.99 you get the Video Package video surveillance included. Protection 1 offers more flexibility and equipment included in the cost so they win this category.

Both providers offer home automation and can integrate with smart home devices. Both are compatible with Amazon Alexa and offer a geo-fencing feature. This technology places an invisible radius around your home so that when your phone passes it, your home knows that you’ve come or gone, and it can perform certain tasks in your home according to your automation settings. Since both offer equal home automation features and compatibility this category is a tie.

Both security providers offer high-quality cameras, sensors, smart locks and motion detection for your home. However, Protection 1 offers more security devices for keeping your home safe, including pan and tilt cameras, glass break detectors, geo-fencing technology, and flood detectors. Since Protection 1 focuses on whole-home security and safety with more equipment they win this round.

You get a $1,000 Theft Protection guarantee from Protection 1, which insures you in the event of a robbery. However, the equipment is only protected under warranty for the first 90 days after installation. If equipment becomes damaged during the term of your contract, you have to pay for it. Most Nest devices, on the other hand, come with a two-year warranty, making Nest the winner of this round.

When you get a Nest Cam and add a monthly Nest Aware subscription, you can view your HD video stream live from any device and playback saved footage stored in the cloud. Protection 1 can equip you with up to six cameras as part of its video monitoring plan, provide live video feeds, and store up to 100 MB of footage for you to access on your computer or mobile device. On the other hand, Nest requires a separate subscription for each camera, which can get expensive quickly. Therefore, Protection 1 wins this round.

Both Nest and Protection 1 have security equipment designed for DIY installation, so you should be able to set up either one yourself by following the prompts. Nest professional installation costs vary depending on the equipment but starts at $99. Protection 1 installation also costs $99 on average – which makes this category a tie.