Buy Once. Buy Well. Live Beautifully.
Ring is the easiest, cheapest way into home security if you’re already in the Amazon ecosystem — but it’s also the security brand with the most well-documented privacy scandal in the category. Both things are true at once, and the honest verdict depends on how much that history weighs against the real price advantage.
Quick Verdict
Ring remains the budget-friendly, DIY-easy pick, and its worst privacy failures have documented fixes since. If you want the strongest dedicated security system regardless of price, independent reviewers rate SimpliSafe higher. If you want the cheapest reasonable entry into video doorbells and basic alarm coverage, Ring still wins on cost.
Current Lineup and Pricing
Doorbells and Alarm Kits
Ring’s video doorbells range from $79.99 (Wired) to $499.99 (Wired/Battery Elite), with the Doorbell Plus at $179.99 as the realistic mid-tier pick. Ring Alarm kits start at $99.99 (5-piece) and run to $198.99 (14-piece); Ring Alarm Pro (which adds a built-in eero WiFi 6 router) runs higher — confirm the exact current bundle price on ring.com, since Alarm Pro pricing has shifted across sources. Ring Protect subscription tiers run roughly $4.99/month for single-device coverage up to $19.99/month for whole-home coverage with professional monitoring.
The Privacy History You Should Actually Know
The 2023 FTC Settlement, With Real Numbers
In May 2023, the FTC found that Ring employees had unrestricted access to customers’ private video footage and used it to spy on customers, and that lax security let hackers take over user cameras and harass people — including children — through two-way audio. Ring settled for $5.8 million, and the FTC actually distributed $5.6 million in refunds to 117,000 affected customers in April 2024. The settlement also banned Ring from using customer video for AI/ML training without consent and mandated new privacy and security programs.
What’s Changed Since
Ring has rolled out optional end-to-end video encryption and continued expanding it, though some coverage notes turning it on disables certain convenience features like web previews and voice-assistant announcements — worth checking which trade-off you’re making before enabling it. The practical takeaway: the 2023 failures were real and serious, and Ring has made concrete changes since, but this is a brand where you should actively turn on the stronger privacy settings rather than assume they’re on by default.
How It Compares to SimpliSafe
SimpliSafe’s kits run from $250.96 to $733.90 with professional monitoring tiers from $21.99 to $79.99/month — notably more expensive than Ring across the board. But independent comparisons (Forbes’ 2026 head-to-head among them) consistently rate SimpliSafe higher as an integrated, security-first system with less configuration required, and explicitly cite Ring’s FTC history as a mark against it. The honest framing: Ring is the budget, DIY, Amazon-ecosystem pick; SimpliSafe is the pick if dedicated security performance matters more to you than price.
Ring vs. The Competition
| Product | Best For | Price Range | Key Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ring Doorbell Plus + Alarm, 8-piece kit | Cheapest reasonable entry into video doorbells and basic alarm coverage | $179.99 + $99.99–$198.99 | Lowest price in the category, deep Amazon ecosystem integration |
| SimpliSafe kits | Buyers who want dedicated security performance over price | $250.96–$733.90 | Rated higher by independent reviewers (Forbes 2026) as an integrated, security-first system |
| A standalone non-Ring video doorbell | Doorbell-only coverage, no whole-home alarm | $60–$150 | Sidesteps Ring’s specific FTC privacy history entirely |
| Professionally installed/monitored system (ADT-style) | Buyers who want zero DIY configuration | $500+ setup, $40–$60/month | Full professional install and monitoring, at a recurring cost well above either DIY option |
Buy It? Bougie Says: Scorecard
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Build Quality | 6/10 | Hardware itself is solid and well-reviewed; the real issues here were software/privacy, not build quality |
| Daily Use Value | 7/10 | Genuinely easy DIY setup and deep Amazon/Alexa integration for everyday use |
| Design Longevity | 5/10 | The 2023 FTC settlement and history of security lapses are a real trust cost baked into the brand, even with fixes since |
| Upgrade Impact | 6/10 | Solid entry-level upgrade from no security system at all, less impressive against a dedicated system like SimpliSafe |
| Price-to-Value | 8/10 | Remains the cheapest reasonable way into video doorbells and basic alarm coverage |
Bougie Dad Score: 6.4 / 10
Where to Buy
- Ring Video Doorbell Plus — Ring.com or Amazon
- Ring Alarm, 8-Piece Kit — Ring.com or Amazon
Quick heads-up: Bougie Dad is a for-profit lifestyle brand. From time to time we may receive modest compensation for products recommended on this site. In all cases, these are products we would happily use in our own homes — often with our own families.
We also use AI tools to help with research and drafting. Every article is reviewed and edited by our team before it’s published.
