ADT vs. LifeStation

Medical alert systems mainly function as a lifeline for older adults as they face the many vulnerabilities that come with old age. Growing older brings a greater risk for emergency situations that may require immediate assistance from a professional emergency responder. In their most primary form, medical alert systems give seniors safety and peace of mind, knowing that they can immediately access help when emergencies occur.

The viability of a medical alert system lies on how quick and effective it is able to respond to the alert signaled by the user. This is particularly important because the time gap between the incident and the actual response determines the survival rate of the user.

As many medical alert systems are up on the market, it can be difficult to choose the best one. There are many factors that should be taken into account when choosing which to purchase including the cost, features, and the services.

ADT and LifeStation are two trusted medical alert system providers that have been in the industry for decades. We evaluated them using our objective-based metrics to give you a comprehensive comparison of specific details to look out for.

	ADT	LifeStation
Overall Grade	Overall Grade: A	Overall Grade: A-minus
Costs
Monthly Cost Price	$29.99 - $39.99	$32.95 - $49.95
Device Cost	$0	$0 - $99.95
Shipping Fee	n/a	$12.5
Cancellation Fee	No fee	No fee
Fall Detection Fee	$0 - $10	n/a
Cellular Fee	n/a	n/a
Spouse Monitoring	$NaN - $NaN	$0 - $3.95
Features
Connectivity Option	Cellular or Landline	Cellular or Landline
Two-way Speaker & Microphone	Yes	Yes
Home-based Back Up Battery Life	20 hours or 20 hours	32 hours
On-the-go Battery Life	40 hours	120 hours or 120 hours
Button Range	300 ft or 600 ft	600 ft, 650 ft or 200 ft
Water Resistant	Yes	Yes
GPS Tracking	Yes, some plans	Yes, some plans
Caregiver App	No	Yes, some plans
Response Time	10 seconds or 10 seconds	28 seconds
More Details	See All Plans	See All Plans

ADT

Pros:

• No long-term contracts required
• Reliable 24/7 professional monitoring
• No upfront equipment fees
• Lifetime warranty on all systems
• Monthly costs guaranteed not to increase
• 6-month money-back guarantee
• Free shipping fee and activation
• No hidden fees
• 24/7/365 monitoring

Cons:

• Restrictive range for in-home systems
• No companion app for caregivers
• Short battery life
• Limited features

LifeStation

Pros:

• Offers automatic fall detection feature
• Free Caregiver app with location monitoring
• Offers sleek and stylish devices
• No contracts requirements
• No cancellation fee
• 30-day money-back guarantee for new customers
• Low-cost monitoring for spouses and loved ones
• On-the-go devices can last up to days

Cons:

• Plans are considerably more expensive than other providers
• No landline connection for a home-based system
• No caregiver app
• Limited range coverage

ADT OVERVIEW

ADT has created a reputation to be one of the most trusted companies that provide medical alert services. Having built this name, they have been able to operate nine emergency monitoring centers across 200 locations in the U.S, which beats other medical alert providers that have two monitoring centers at most. All the monitoring centers of ADT are TMA Five Diamond Certified and UL-approved. They also earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Their monitoring centers are established in a redundant network, which ensures network availability especially during incidents when any of their monitoring centers loses function. ADT’s medical alert services are designed to efficiently sustain the essentials of a medical alert system minus the bells and whistles. Their systems include: Medical Alert Basic System, Medical Alert Plus System, and On-the-go system.

Medical Alert Systems

Medical Alert Basic System

ADT's Medical Alert Basic System is a great choice for seniors who spend most of their time at home. It is the cheapest plan that ADT Health offers, with its base price that starts at $29.99 per month. This includes an in-home base console, a two-way speaker, plus a waterproof help button that can be worn as a wristband or pendant. This system connects to a standard landline connectivity and can be used up to 300 feet away from the base unit, in any direction. Though the range is limited, this covers enough area of a standard home with a few rooms at most. It features home temperature monitoring, which sends an alert if your home temperature goes below or above the normal level.

Medical Alert Plus System

Medical Alert Plus is an alternative choice for an in-home system for seniors who do not have a standard landline connectivity in their home. The system connects to the AT & T network, which works anywhere as long as cellular signal can be accessed. This plan costs $35.99 a month, and can be upgraded to have fall detection monitoring for only $10 a month.

The system has a device range of 600 ft from the base, so users can roam around the house with more protection. An optional waterproof wall mount button can also be added and can be placed anywhere inside the house or multiple pendant options for an extra layer of protection.

On-The-Go Medical Alert System

ADT’s on-the-go system is designed to offer mobile monitoring with GPS location tracking for only $39.99/month. This system is perfect for seniors who tend to be out and about, doing errands, or roaming around their neighborhood. This plan comes with a lightweight, water-proof, portable device which you can bring anywhere. It is equipped with wireless connection with two-way talk, and it can also be upgraded to have an optional fall detection feature which uses sensors to detect a fall and automatically sends an alert to the ADT monitoring center for help.

LifeStation Overview

LifeStation is one of the medical alert companies that has been around in the industry for decades now. This is a family-owned company based in Union City, New Jersey. LifeStation has system for both in-home and on-the-go, which is an excellent option for seniors who maintain an active, independent lifestyle. One drawback is that their devices only connect through the 4G-LTE cellular network, which can be a point of issue for seniors residing in areas with weak cellular signals.

LifeStation has earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and they are also TMA-certified. They also have two US-based monitoring centers located in New Jersey and Texas that are staffed by care specialists who are trained to assist in any emergency situation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. Both of the monitoring centers are UL-listed and CSAA Five Diamond Certified which means that they are held to the highest industry standards.

Medical Alert Systems

At Home Standard

LifeStation’s At-Home Standard plan costs $32.95 per month. The system connects to a cellular network, and includes a base station and a waterproof, wearable help button. The coverage is up to 650ft from the base unit. The system has a clear two-way speaker and microphone and a backup battery that can last up to 32 hours in the event of a power outage.

At Home Supreme

At Home Supreme comes with a monthly monitoring fee of $44.95, and basically includes everything in the At Home Standard plan plus a free Lockbox that allows first responders to access your home if you're unable to open the door in an emergency. The base pricing for this system’s monthly subscription plan already includes the automatic fall detection. It also has a backup battery that can last up to 32 hours with coverage of 600 ft from the base console.

Sidekick Standard

This on-the-go system costs $37.95 a month for monitoring, plus a one-time device cost of $99.95. The device comes as a wearable pendant that is compact and lightweight, and equipped with a built-in two-way communication help button that is water resistant and can last up to 5 days after being fully charged. It also has GPS tracking and a caregiver app called Find My Loved One so you can easily find out where your loved ones are if they wander off.

Sidekick Supreme

The Sidekick Supreme from LifeStation costs $49.95 a month for monitoring, plus a one-time device cost of $99.95. This includes everything in the Sidekick Standard plan, plus a fall detection feature that can automatically detect if a fall has occurred and send an alert to the monitoring center.

Sidekick Smart

Sidekick Smart may be the best discreet device if you’re looking for a medical alert system that does not give off the vibes of a medical alert system. Sidekick Smart is a touch-screen watch that has modern features, as it can track your steps and monitor your heart rate. The system is also water-resistant, with Bluetooth technology, a built-in two-way speaker, GPS location tracking, and fall detection capabilities that allows 24/7 access to emergency help. It can last up to 5 days on a single charge, so you don't have to worry about it running out of power when you need it most.

LifeStation Luxury

This beautiful pendant may be the best choice for stylish seniors who want a medical alert system that could go with their fashion style. The pendant is carefully crafted with high-quality materials, including a brass case with rhodium-colored plating, a center-faceted blue resin stone, and a 30" brass chain.

The pendant pairs wirelessly via bluetooth with LifeStation's Mobile LTE device, which connects to a 24/7 emergency monitoring center. In case of an emergency, the wearer can push the help button on the pendant to call for help. This on-the-go system costs $43.95 a month and the pendant has a 1-year life span and a range of 200ft from the mobile device.

When choosing a medical alert system, you should consider the cost and the services offered, and then look if both strike a balance that gives you your money’s worth. ADT Health and LifeStation both have competitive pricing plans.

ADT Health’s monitoring fees start from $29.99-$39.99 per month with no additional device fee, while LifeStation’s monthly monitoring fees range from $32.95-49.95 per month, with an upfront device cost of $99.95.ADT ships for free, while LifeStation charges $13 for it.

While LifeStation offers a cheaper cost for spouse monitoring or extra buttons for $3.95 per month, ADT offers a relatively more economical choice that would not bring financial stress in the future.

Overall, we highly recommend ADT Health if you’re out in the market to look for an affordable emergency response system. Their price difference can add up to a valuable amount of money over a long-term subscription.

While we recognize that LifeStation offers a wide variety of products with a touch of modern tech, emphasizing their Smartwatch and a unique luxurious pendant option, it is also remarkable how ADT kept its packages as basic and simple as they can be. This is mainly because ADT focuses on delivering practicality, reliability, and functionality.

LifeStation, on the contrary, designed their systems with helpful add-ons that present the users with many options that would suit their needs. This can be particularly seen in its excellent on-the-go systems. Sidekick Smart, one of their on-the-go systems, features a pedometer to track step count, a heart rate monitor to support a healthy lifestyle, and a weather forecast. Additionally, LifeStation Luxury is a great choice for seniors who want a stylish life alert system to match their fashion style as the pendant has a sophisticated, jewelry-like design that makes it both fashionable and functional.

ADT creates a striking contrast as it keeps things simple yet purposeful, as seen in how they designed their systems to provide a balance of quality and affordability. They also have a connectivity option for landline, which LifeStation lacks as they only have cellular connection.

Monitoring Center

When narrowing down your medical alert options, their monitoring center is among the most important considerations. This is an essential component of any reputable medical alert system, as this is where the actual operation depends on.

ADT’s monitoring centers are certified by various third-party accrediting bodies. They are TMA Five Diamond Certified, UL-certified, and FM-approved, which means that the centers adhere to the highest standards in the industry.

LifeStation has two US-based monitoring centers located in New Jersey and Texas and both are UL-listed and CSAA Five Diamond Certified which keeps them on a par with the reliability that ADT offers.

However, a significant difference can be noted in their response time, to which ADT responds to an alert in as fast as 10 seconds, while LifeStation can dispatch the same help for an average response time of 28 seconds.

OUR PICK

ADT and LifeStation both provide excellent monitoring and protection, shining on different particular categories. However, upon a thorough review of both company’s offers and services, we highly recommend ADT.

Considering the cost, ADT offers comprehensive plans which are more affordable in the long run as compared to the more expensive offers of LifeStation. Most seniors go by budget, and subscribing to a more affordable medical alert system will benefit them in the long term.

While LifeStation offers modern features, particularly for their on-the-go systems that are best for seniors who are tech-savvy and are fashion-forward, ADT fairly competes with providing an all-inclusive function for a medical alert system, which is cost-effective and reliable at the same time.

Conclusively, ADT’s monitoring center is faster to respond to emergencies with its shorter response time of only 10 seconds. This is most essential because time is the essence of any emergency.