Cameras and Alarms
UniFi Protect vs. SimpliSafe
SimpliSafe records to its cloud on a monthly plan. UniFi Protect is bought once and records in your building.
How they compare
What each one costs, and what it does.
Learn more on Ubiquiti’s siteUniFi Protect
How to choose
It comes down to whether you need a monitoring company, or footage you own.
Choose UniFi Protect if
- You want to own your footageEvery recording stays on a recorder you own, with no copy in somebody else’s cloud.
- You need 24/7 recordingEvery Protect camera can record around the clock, where SimpliSafe records only clips of motion.
- Recording can’t stop in an outageWired cameras record in the building, so they keep going when the internet drops, and through a power outage on battery backup.
- You need more than a few camerasProtect records up to 500 cameras, where SimpliSafe records 10 on its higher plans.
Choose SimpliSafe if
- You want alarm monitoringSimpliSafe’s business plans include professional monitoring.
Common questions
Our alarm is self-monitored: the siren sounds and your phone is alerted the moment a sensor trips. While we do not offer alarm monitoring, Ubiquiti has announced its own, powered by Noonlight, for UniFi Protect 7.4.
Recording and viewing carry no subscription and no per-camera license, because the footage is stored on equipment you own. Our support plan, which comes with every business system, is billed on its own.
As long as you choose, from days to years. The recorder takes up to 1 PB of RAID storage, sized for your cameras and how far back you need to look.
We install UniFi Protect. We do not install or support store-bought kits.
Yes. We replace the SimpliSafe cameras with Protect cameras and a recorder, since SimpliSafe cameras run on SimpliSafe’s own app and cloud.
Yes. The cameras record to the recorder in your building whether or not the internet is up. Only viewing from away needs the internet.
No. SimpliSafe records clips when a camera sees motion. Protect records every camera around the clock to the recorder in your building, with no plan to pay.
Sources
- What are the Business Monitoring Plan Options?, SimpliSafe Support, June 2026
- Business Features in the SimpliSafe App, SimpliSafe Support
- Exporting Clips and Cloud Archiving with UniFi Protect, Ubiquiti Help Center
- UniFi Protect Evidence Authenticity and Visible Watermarks, Ubiquiti Help Center
- UniFi Enterprise NVR Core: Tech Specs, Ubiquiti
- Professional Alarm Monitoring Powered by Noonlight (Coming Soon), Ubiquiti
See what your building could do
Start with a short call. Then we come out, look at the space and design a system that fits your building.