Top smart locks compared

About Top smart locks compared

Smart locks are bought rarely and used daily, so the choice is small but it lasts. This ranking covers 42 brands that sell smart locks, and it keeps the price at entry separate from anything that follows at renewal. Entry pricing across the category runs €4.06 to €175.38, with the median at €100.84. Recurring fees decide whether a cheap lock stays cheap, and the median brand here charges €0 a month against a high of €39.45. Another axis counts just as much: whether a lock joins the smart home already running in your house or insists on its own hub. 37.5% of brands here need a hub, and Matter, HomeKit and SmartThings support is still uneven across the ranges. Installation, returns and support reach fill out the picture.

How we picked

Every brand here carries the same weighting. Cost accounts for 40%, offer for 40% and trust for 20%. Cost reads the price at entry, the contract period attached to it, and any subscription that lands at renewal. Offer reads what the range includes, which ecosystems a lock joins, and whether a hub is needed before it will talk to a phone or a voice assistant. Trust reads support channels, the returns window, local storage and the legal entity behind the brand. Figures come from each brand's own pages: shop and product pages for prices and kits, support and refund pages, security certification pages and about pages. 42 brands were scored for the smart lock category, and where a brand sells several product types, the entry figure covers the range rather than a single model. Partners, where any exist, sit at the top of the order, and the label beside a name reflects the score rather than a claim made here. Nothing is assumed where a brand states nothing.

Our top picks

1. 7. The Home Security Superstore: best for top-pick

   The Home Security Superstore opens this ranking because its smart lock sits at $13.95 and the shelf around it covers alarms, cameras, video doorbells, personal alarms and locks, so a whole entry and camera setup can be ordered from a single place. The model is self-install and professional monitoring is not part of the deal, which keeps running cost at hardware level. Against Aqara next in the ranking, the difference is breadth of adjacent kit rather than lock features: Aqara covers cameras, locks, smoke alarms and video doorbells with a wider ecosystem list. The Home Security Superstore trades ecosystem reach for a lower starting figure and a broader alarm range.

   • Price: $13.95
   • Products: Alarm, Camera, Smart-lock, and 2 more
   • Professional monitoring: No

   Pros

   • Entry price of $13.95 ranks 3 of 70 brands compared on price.
   • One catalogue covers alarm, camera and smart lock so a full setup can be built in a single place.
   • The overall score of 9.6 is among the strongest on the page, with 9.9 for cost.
   • Sells multiple brands, listed as 3 alternatives, so single-manufacturer lock-in is not required.

   Cons

   • Professional monitoring is a no, so anyone wanting a watched response must look elsewhere.
   • The $13.95 entry price covers a single item rather than a monitored plan, and the wider catalogue still costs more.
   • Compared with JOOAN at $13.99, The Home Security Superstore starts slightly higher and sells across more device types, so cameras alone are cheaper elsewhere.

2. 8. Aqara

   Aqara holds its place in this ranking on reach rather than price. Its locks work inside Alexa, Google, HomeKit, Matter and SmartThings, an ecosystem span as wide as any here, and installation is not required. Costs stay low after the sale too: the listed contract period is 0 months, monthly monitoring is £0, and free features cover 7-day free cloud clips plus local microSD recording. Support runs on phone, help centre and community. GHome Smart, next in the ranking, costs less at $23.99 and pushes 4k cameras, but its ecosystem list stops at Alexa and Google, so a Matter or HomeKit household is better served here.

   • Price from: £3.49
   • Matter certified: Yes
   • Hub required: Yes

   Pros

   • Monitoring is £0 and the contract term is 0 months, so there is no renewal price to plan for.
   • Hardware opens at £3.49 and cameras start at £36.98, against a site entry median of €127.49.
   • Local control and local storage are both supported, so automations and recordings can stay on the hub rather than in the cloud.
   • One hub covers hub, sensor and lighting over matter, thread and zigbee, which spreads the hub cost across many device types.
   • A 14 day money back period and a 2 years warranty cover both ends of a first purchase.

   Cons

   • A hub is required before any sensor, lock or blind does anything, which is an upfront cost on top of the devices.
   • Professional monitoring is not offered, so alerts depend on the household rather than on a watching service.
   • Support runs on phone, help centre and community only, with no live chat listed alongside them.
   • Cloud history is short at 7 days, so longer retention depends on the local recording in 7-day free cloud clips plus local microSD recording.

3. 9. GHome Smart

   GHome Smart takes this ranking slot on value for a first system. Locks and doorbells start at $23.99, local storage is supported, and free features give a first month of cloud storage plus SD card recording. Returns run 30 days, matching the middle of the field, and the wider range reaches 4k with wired kit. The trade-off sits in the ecosystem: GHome Smart names Alexa and Google, and support runs on email, help centre and community, with no phone line. Lorex, next in the ranking, adds HomeKit and Matter, a phone and chat line, and solar and PoE power options, at a slightly higher $29.99.

   • Price from: $9.99
   • Hub required: No
   • Energy reporting: Yes

   Pros

   • No hub is needed and installation is not required, so devices work once plugged in.
   • Cameras start at $23.99 and the wider range at $9.99, under the site entry median of €127.49.
   • Local storage is supported, and First month cloud storage and SD card recording keeps recording going early on.
   • Support runs on email, help centre and community, and the 30 day return window softens a first order.
   • Energy reporting sits alongside thermostats and radiator valves listed in plug, lighting and thermostat.

   Cons

   • Professional monitoring is not offered, so nothing watches the house when an alarm sounds.
   • Devices run on wi fi and zigbee only, so there is no Matter route into a mixed-brand home.
   • Support runs on email, help centre and community, with no phone line listed.
   • Warranty runs 1 year, thin for outdoor cameras left in the weather.

4. 10. Lorex

   Lorex earns this ranking spot on the widest power and support mix of the brands above it. Locks sit in a range that also covers battery, wired, solar and PoE kit, support runs on email, chat and phone, and free features keep local recording, live view, playback and alerts working without a plan. A recurring cost does exist, a cloud plan at $5.99 a month, against a contract period of 0 months and monitoring at $0. Moes, ranked next, also lists Matter and HomeKit and prices its entry at €50.95, with security support listed for 2 years.

   • Price: $29.99
   • Monitoring per month: $0
   • Minimum contract: 0 months

   Pros

   • Local recording, live view, playback and alerts all work with no plan, and local storage is supported, so footage can stay on a drive the buyer owns.
   • Cameras, video doorbells and smart locks come from the same brand, and installation is not required, so a homeowner can cover a front door and garden without hiring an installer.
   • Cameras reach 4k and run on battery, wired and solar options, covering outdoor and off-grid spots.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, so help is reachable by email, chat, phone and in a help centre.
   • alexa, google and homekit are supported, so the kit fits a home already built around a voice assistant.

   Cons

   • Professional monitoring is not offered, so an alarm travels no further than the owner's own devices and the DIY approach is the only route.
   • Cloud video is kept for 60 days, so anything that must stay retrievable longer has to sit on local storage.
   • Entry hardware at $29.99 is above The Home Security Superstore at $13.95 and Annke at $19.99, so the ticket at the till is the weak spot.
   • The Lorex Connect cloud plan is $5.99 a month, and cloud-side extras are not folded into the hardware price.

What to look for

Entry price and what renews later

Entry pricing across this ranking runs €4.06 to €175.38, and the median is €100.84. Recurring fees are a separate question: the median monthly charge is €0 and the high is €39.45, so read the renewal terms before the entry figure.

Ecosystem fit and hub dependence

A lock that needs a hub is a two-part purchase, and 37.5% of brands here rely on one. Voice assistant support is near universal at 90.9% and 90.9%, while HomeKit sits at 69.7%, Matter at 60.6% and SmartThings at 48.5%.

Local control, storage and encryption

Local storage comes with 92.3% of brands in this ranking and local control with 100%, so footage and access records can stay on the device. End-to-end encryption is the exception, listed by 55.6%. Doorbell cameras on these locks range from 23.1% to 30.8%.

Power at the door

A lock on a busy front door is usually battery powered, and 95% of brands here list that option. Wired power appears at 52.5%, solar at 35% and PoE at 25%, which matters for anyone without a hub to power spare locks from.

Monitoring and contract length

Brands offering professional monitoring account for 33.3%, so most locks here are self-monitored. Contract periods are flat, with the median at 0 months and a high of 36 months, which keeps exits simple.

Support after the sale

Help centres appear with 95% of brands, phone lines with 65%, email with 55% and community boards with 32.5%. A lock that fails on a Tuesday evening is the moment this matters most.

Frequently asked questions

Top smart locks compared by country

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

Brands compared head to head

• Coolblue Belgium vs SwitchBot

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV