ADT’s New Blu Kit Falls Far Behind the DIY Competition

ADT Blu is the 150-year-old security company’s latest DIY system, available for self-installation with sensors, cameras and the 2026 version of the ADT Plus app. I tested the Starter Kit ($249), a Blu Outdoor Camera ($89) and a Blu Video Doorbell ($109) to see what’s new. In theory, I like seeing more affordable security kits from ADT that don’t require professional setup. In practice, it’s a disaster, especially compared to the remarkable DIY security devices I’ve tested this year.

The problem isn’t really that ADT Blu is competing against Matter-supported, budget-friendly innovations, like Ikea’s new smart security line or Aqara’s latest sensors. It’s also up against ADT’s own tangled services and poor support, and it’s losing. This system, more than any past ADT security I’ve tested, shows why the security giant needs to change sooner rather than later.

ADT Blu Design: Straightforward devices

First, the good: There’s nothing notably wrong with the physical devices in ADT Blu. My kit came with a hub, three door and window sensors, a motion sensor, a 2K video doorbell and a 2K outdoor camera.

ADT’s central hub is the same version I tested and liked a few years ago for ADT Plus. I generally like the design, which combines a light-up touchpad for entering arm/disarm codes with a siren. There are also buttons to immediately contact emergency services, as well as support a cellular backup if you’re willing to pay an extra subscription for these features. The hub is required to support all the additional devices: Unlike some new kits, you can’t use an existing Matter hub — such as a HomePod or Echo Show — as an alternative.

The add-on devices were all easy to unpack and included everything necessary for mounting, including both screws or adhesive strips where applicable. There are no written instructions; you’ll have to use the app to get setup steps (something I’ll discuss below), but there is a quick starter guide, and the sensors aren’t difficult to figure out.

Design quality was fine, although I do prefer some brands’ longer, slimmer door and window sensors compared to ADT’s shorter versions, since they’re easier to connect to my sometimes convoluted trim. Once they’re set up, basic sensor functionality was accurate and quick to update with alerts and app history. 

The two cameras impressed me with their solid, rechargeable design and I liked seeing ADT upgrade to 2K resolution. For the past few years, ADT has relied on Google Nest cameras for its kits, but these new versions look like a strong shift toward its own production. They can also detect people and packages, and they have an extra-wide 180-degree field of view and two-way audio, all things that look great on paper.

Then I dug deeper into the installation process, and found the device quality wasn’t backed by the software support it needed.

ADT Blu setup: Failures abound

The more I experimented with the ADT Blu kit, the more things went wrong. The ADT Plus app was a little buggy when I first tested in 2024, but I thought there was a good chance it would improve over time. Instead, it’s gotten worse.

At first, it was small things. The ADT Plus app wouldn’t let me log in properly and sent strange error messages until I changed my password a few times. Once sensors were installed, the app’s settings buttons refused to indicate actions, so you can tap them repeatedly without knowing if your changes are taking effect or not.

Then there are strange decisions like posting a confusing “System Issue!” warning sign when it’s only a door or window that’s currently open, something quite normal in the hot summer or when guarding indoor rooms. There are also missing features: Door/window sensors are supposed to chime “anytime your door or window sensors are opened or closed,” but I could never make that feature work, no matter what I tried.

Next I tested ADT’s new cameras, or I tried to. Setup proved impossible because the ADT Plus app doesn’t have an option to add a camera where instructions say it is (or anywhere else), and devices like the Blu video doorbell don’t have a QR code to scan to start the process. Re-downloading the app, switching to the browser app and rebooting everything still yielded the same issue.

I took to customer service to resolve the problem. After a frustrating chat with an AI assistant that couldn’t understand my problem, I spoke with a real person who couldn’t understand it either. So I set up a support call, where I explained to the representative that I cannot install my Blu cameras because there is, in fact, no camera installation option in the app.

The representative said it was probably a backend issue with my app, and routed me to a customer service number to fix it. That was the wrong number, but they routed me to a different number, where yet another support rep said, “This is weird” several times and eventually opened another support ticket to try to fix my app in an unspecified way. It’s been a few days; I haven’t heard back from ADT, and I’m not optimistic.

In summary, ADT Blu is broken, at least for me. From my experience, it isn’t ready for a consumer release and I wouldn’t wish their customer support on anybody. After my experience, I reached out to ADT’s PR team to ask how widespread this issue is, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. Even if the issue is limited to certain people, I couldn’t recommend a system where you have to roll the dice on whether it will work for you or not. 

That failure is even more striking when I’ve tested new DIY security devices this year that can be set up in minutes, work on multiple home platforms and offer intuitive customization, from Ikea’s cheap, Matter-ready door and motion sensors to Eufy’s subscription-free, magnetic-mount outdoor camera. And speaking of subscriptions, let’s talk about prices.

ADT Blu subscriptions: A bottom line that doesn’t compare

One advantage of ADT Blu is that you don’t need ADT’s long-term contracts to use it. However, there are subscription requirements you should know before you purchase.

ADT Blu requires a $15 monthly monitoring plan to use. That plan will auto-renew after one month, but you can cancel it if you don’t want to pay. However, if you only have an ADT Blu camera, it looks like you can get away with a $10 Video Connect plan instead, which can also be canceled after a month.  

The problem is that ADT has also made cancellation largely impossible if you want to use ADT Blu, especially with cameras. The plans allow live video feeds, motion alerts, the ability to disarm the security system when you’re away from home and additional ADT Plus app features — all generally necessary features for the modern security system. You won’t really want to use Blu without the monthly fee.

The closest comparison I can make is SimpliSafe’s Self-Monitoring plan (SimpliSafe is one of my top DIY picks if you don’t mind a subscription), which also includes required features like push notifications and scheduled arming. But SimpliSafe’s plan starts at only $10 a month, so ADT’s version is both more expensive and offers less overall.

Note that you can also upgrade to a Pro Protect ADT Blu plan, which adds professional monitoring services for $25. You can get the same with SimpliSafe for around $23, plus even higher tiers like Active Guard outdoor monitoring that ADT currently doesn’t have.

No matter how you look at it, the costs are a tough sell, even if everything in the Blu system was working perfectly.

ADT Blu final thoughts

ADT’s self-install Blu system shipped before it was ready for consumers. There’s no way I can recommend it in its current state, though future updates may fix many of these issues.

However, even if everything is resolved in coming months, ADT continues to fight a losing battle against its own outdated customer support and pricing. The company is less prepared than ever to handle the latest wave of versatile, subscription-free DIY security systems from other companies like Ikea, Aqara, Eufy and Arlo.

Right now, the power of the ADT brand lies in its familiarity and its long-time presence in the home security world. How long will that brand power last when the company releases apps that don’t even work and prices them higher than competitors’ better-performing alternatives?

Tyler Lacoma

Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations.

With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends.

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