But Link Interactive has a few things going for it that leave Brinks Home in the dust. If you want a totally custom system with an indoor camera that will make your neighbors jealous, then Link Interactive is the way to go. First of all, you don’t have to sign a contract with Link Interactive. Not if you’re willing to shell out the cash for all of your equipment up front (rather than pay for it over time). And even if you do go for a contract, Link Interactive lets you choose between 12, 24, or 36 months, which is great if you know you’ll be moving in a year or two. Brinks Home doesn’t care so much about options. You have to sign a contract, and it’s always for 36 months. That’s fine if you’re in your dream house and plan to hang out for a decade, but moving security systems can be a hassle—and Brinks Home locks you in for three years. Okay, it actually doesn’t require many tools. Plus you get to skip installation and activation fees. But there’s still one fee you might run into: cancellation. Link Interactive has the more generous policy—it only makes you pay off 75% of your remaining contract, whereas Brinks Home wants the full 100%. That said, if all you want is a control panel and some basic door sensors and motion detectors, then it doesn’t really matter which company you choose. If your kids are with the babysitter and they need to reach you, they can just press a button on this camera, and it’ll call your phone through the mobile app. It’s a nice little feature if you don’t have a landline (and who does anymore). Z-Wave is a super common connection type you need to install things like smart door locks and smart light bulbs. Both Link Interactive and Brinks Home let you add on all the smart devices you want, as long as they work with Z-Wave. Link Interactive home automation integrations: Brinks Home home automation integrations: Brinks Home also has an A+ rating from the BBB,4 but it also has way more complaints than Link Interactive (almost 2,000 compared to 8). Plus it doesn’t score as well on Trustpilot.5 Brinks Home is a good choice if you want a lower-priced plan that still gives you mobile app access, but, for the most part, we’re team Link Interactive. Pricing winner: Link Interactive—Brinks Home has slightly more expensive monitoring plans than Link Interactive, and Link has more flexible contracts and charges a lower cancellation fee. Equipment winner: Link Interactive—Link Interactive and Brinks Home use the exact same equipment manufacturer, but Link Interactive offers more types of devices so you can totally customize your system. Home automation winner: Tie—Brinks Home and Link Interactive have the exact same home automation integrations. You can use either of them to turn your house into a smart home. Customer experience winner: Link Interactive—Link Interactive gets consistently better customer reviews than Brinks Home, and it has fewer complaints with the BBB. This one’s an easy win. Still not sure which system would work best for you? Check out our best home security systems review and compare all the top systems to find your favorite.
