Life Alert Cost Comparison and Review

Life Alert is famous for its wildly successful “help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercials, bringing medical alert systems to the mainstream. Unfortunately, despite its early popularity, our Life Alert cost comparison and review reveals that it disappoints when it comes to price, transparency, quality and customer service.

	MobileHelp	Life Alert	LifeFone	Medical Guardian	MedicalAlert	LifeStation	Lifeline	Bay Alarm Medical
Value Rating
	Excellent	Poor	Very Good	Good	Good	Average	Good	Good
Special Promos	1 FREE Month + FREE Mobile and In-Home Devices + 50% Off Fall Detection + FREE Lock Box + FREE Expedited Shipping + $100 Referral Bonus	N/A	1 FREE Month + FREE Lock Box	1 FREE Month + FREE Lock Box + 75% Off Mini Device	FREE Lock Box	1 FREE Month	N/A	1 FREE Month + 20% Off Mobile Devices
Get A Free Consultation	(800) 920-1745	(800) 360-0329	(844) 263-7216	(800) 942-1829	(800) 783-5329	(855) 622-5040	(855) 410-3191	(855) 692-0104
Learn More	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site
Starting Monthly Monitoring Cost	$19.95	$49.95	$24.95	$29.95	$19.95	$32.95	$29.95	$24.95
Range	1,300 ft	800 ft	1,300 ft	1,300 ft	Up to 800 ft	1,000 ft	600 ft	1,000 ft
Response Time	29 sec	33 sec	48 sec	25 sec	35 sec	43 sec	35 sec	49 sec
Emergency Buttons	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Backup Battery Life	30 hrs	72 hrs	32 hrs	32 hrs	32 hrs	32 hrs	30 hrs	32 hrs
Wall Mounted Button	$2/mo	$20/mo	$39.95	$2.99/mo	N/A	$2.49/mo	N/A	$1.95/mo
Fall Detection	$10/mo	Not Available	$5/mo	$10/mo	$10/mo	$10/mo	$15/mo	$15/mo
GPS
Self-Install
Free Spouse Monitoring
Wellness Checks
Free Shipping
Free Cancellation
30 Day Money Back Trial
Learn More	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site	Visit Site
Get A Free Consultation	(800) 920-1745	(800) 360-0329	(844) 263-7216	(800) 942-1829	(800) 783-5329	(855) 622-5040	(855) 410-3191	(855) 692-0104
Promo Code	Special Offer Expires 9/30/2023	N/A	Offer Expires 9/30/2023	Fall Prevention Month Sale Expires 9/22/2023	Summer Special Expires 9/30/2023	N/A	N/A	Fall Prevention Awareness Week Sale Expires 9/18/2023

How Much Does Life Alert Cost?

Life Alert costs between $49.95 and $69.95 per month depending on whether you choose the in-home or GPS system. There are also one time fees that cost between $96 and $198 up-front for things like equipment, activation, shipping and installation.

Not only does Life Alert cost more than its competitors, it offers fewer features and locks customers into long term 3 year contracts, when many competitors offer no contracts with 30 day money back guarantees.

What we found most concerning however, was the 152 customer complaints made to the Better Business Bureau. Many of the complaints against Life Alert had to do with aggressive sales tactics, poor transparency and difficulty trying to cancel their service - even when a customer died.

Life Alert Alternatives

If you're looking for a lower cost alternative to Life Alert, without sacrificing product, service or quality, with easy to cancel contract terms, we strongly recommend MobileHelp.

MobileHelp offers an excellent low price point, starting at just $19.95 a month. It's able to do so because it actually manufactures its medical alert systems itself (and supplies much of the rest of the industry), and passes on the savings to consumers. Despite its affordability, it's one of the only medical alert companies that's FDA and ULC certified.

MobileHelp currently has a limited time offer getting you 1 free month, free equipment costs, 50% off fall detection, a free lock box, a 30 day money back trial period, free cancellation, free overnight shipping and monthly monitoring as low as $19.95 a month - making it absolutely risk free to try and the best available pricing we've seen on the market at this time.

To get the best deal from MobileHelp (or anyone else for that matter), we actually recommend you give them a call at (800) 920-1745. It will help you lock in your pricing (offer expires September 30, 2022) and you'll get a free consultation to help you find the right system for your individual situation.

Life Alert Review Takeaways:

• The cost of Life Alert far exceeds its value;
• Life Alert costs nearly $30 a month more than other leading medical alert companies;
• Life Alert has up-front fees of $96 to $198. Many top medical alert companies offer $0 in up-front fees;
• There is no 30 day money-back period. We are strong believers in try before you buy, especially for seniors;
• You must sign-up for a 3 year contract when most competitors offer month to month contracts and easy cancellation;
• Red Flag: Life Alert has more Better Business Bureau customer complaints than any other leading medical alert company in the United States.

Our conclusion is that there are far better life alert systems available, offering more flexibility at a much more reasonable price than Life Alert, as can be seen in the chart above.

Life Alert Pros:

Monitoring Center

Life Alert owns multiple monitoring stations, all of which are located in the United States. Because it owns its own monitoring stations, and doesn't outsource calls, it has more control over quality and training. Its monitoring stations have also been accredited by a 3rd party and are UL listed.

Monitored Fire / Smoke / Carbon Monoxide

Life Alert can also monitor for fire, smoke and carbon monoxide. The cost is extra, but the service is available.

Long Back-Up Battery Life

If there is a power outage, Life Alert's devices do have a longer back-up battery life than the average medical alert device of 5 days. Most other medical alert devices offer back-up battery power of close to 3 days.

Life Alert Cons:

Life Alert Cost For Monthly Monitoring

The Life Alert cost for the basic system is $49.95 (confirmed by company sales associate). That is significantly more than the average of $19.95-$29.95 per month most other medical alert systems charge. Life Alert basic doesn't even come with fall detection and offers no additional product feature or service that merits a higher price. At a full $20-$30 more per month, we just don't think Life Alert is worth the extra cost.

Start-Up Fees

In addition to its monthly charge of $49.95 for monitoring services, the Life Alert cost also includes up-front fees between $95 and $198, for things like shipping, programming and processing fees. Many other companies offer $0 start-up fees.

No Automatic Fall Detection

One of the big advancements in medical alert systems is the development of automatic fall detection. In the event a senior falls and is unable to press their emergency button themselves, the automated fall detector will call the emergency response center and they will send help within minutes.

Life alert does not offer fall detection. They said they had researched fall detection, but ultimately determined it was unreliable. While we agree that fall detection does not detect 100% of falls, we understand the best systems catch around 90% of falls, we think it performs an essential service and is a great back-up plan in the event the user can't press the button themselves due to shock or loss of consciousness.

Long Term Contracts

Another big drawback of Life Alert, is that it locks its customers into 3 year contracts. Most of Life Alert's competitors have migrated to no contracts, allowing customers to cancel at any time, for any reason with no penalties. Life Alert only allows contracts to be terminated upon death, if you move into a senior living facility or if you receive 24 hour care, however, you will have to provide a letter from your doctor or the long term care facility as proof.

The problem with long term contracts for medical alert systems, is that sometimes people's needs change, especially those of the elderly. Perhaps you don't like the way the equipment looks or feels, you move in with a family member, get a full-time caregiver or simply don't use the equipment often enough to make it worth your while. With Life Alert, you're stuck paying $49.95 a month until then end of your 3 year term - not so with the competition.

No 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee

Life Alert does not offer a trial period, plus you're locked in for 3 years. Many of the leading medical alert companies will give you a 30 day money back guarantee - get your money back, no questions asked - and a month to month contract. This is important for a few reasons. First, sometimes you may find that you or your loved one don't end up wearing your help button. Second, if you order a mobile alert system, you may find that you don't get good reception. Third, you may find it's too uncomfortable, big or unpleasant and want to try a different system that's a better fit.

Lack of Transparency

We find Life Alert's sales and marketing practices less than transparent, especially given their target population. Neither the monthly Life Alert cost, nor its upfront fees are disclosed on their website. Once they have you or your loved one on the phone, we found they engaged in high pressure sales tactics, which was also a frequent complaint with the Better Business Bureau. We're not fans of the high pressure sales tactics, especially for a vulnerable senior population that is already feeling stressed or fearful.

Lots of Customer Complaints

One way to get a feel for a medical alert company's customer satisfaction levels is to check out the number of complaints lodged against it through the Better Business Bureau. Unfortunately, no medical alert company had more complaints against it than Life Alert - a total of 249 complaints. Some companies like Philips Lifeline, which is of similar if not larger size, only have 28 complaints!

Of the 249 complaints against Lifeline, 157 were for problems with the product or service, 56 were for advertising or sales issues and 35 were for billing and collection issues. We just can't recommend a medical alert company who has so many more complaints against it than its competitors.

Compare Life Alert Costs

Just take a look at the chart below to see how expensive Life Alert is compared to the competition. The worst part is, you're getting an even worse customer experience, while paying more.

We really didn't like the lack of transparency with Life Alert. We could not find any pricing on their website. They want to force you to call to get pricing, and then put you through a high pressure sales pitch. Regardless, you can see in the chart above that their pricing is VERY expensive relative to the competition, for product that offers the same level of protection.

As a result, if you're looking to get a personal emergency response system, we don't recommend Life Alert. We believe the cost of Life Alert, a full $30 per month more than other leading medical alert companies, plus up front fees of up to $198 and an inflexible 3 year contract are unfair. Moreover given that other companies are cheaper and offer more flexible contracts, it's unnecessary for you to pay more and get locked into a long term contract, when there are great alternatives offering the same service.

Conclusion

Despite its early success, we believe the customer complaints and negative reviews as seen on the Better Business Bureau website offer a cautionary tale to prospective customers.

The bottom line is, we believe you can find medical alert systems that are as good or better, at far more reasonable prices and much more flexible contractual terms than Life Alert itself.