+Medical Alert Review

Budget $25 to $35 a month. Here’s the whole bill.

That range buys a good monitored, no-contract system. Fall detection adds about $10. The traps are elsewhere: equipment fees, activation fees, and one famous 3-year contract.

By Carol Bennett, Senior EditorUpdated How we evaluate

Prices last verified ; estimates marked with ~ and dated per figure below. Reader-supported: if you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

The monthly fee, brand by brand

The takeaway:every system worth buying sits between $25 and $32. Life Alert charges $22 more a month than our value pick. That’s $264 more a year, without better monitoring behind the button.

Lively Mobile2
$24.99
MobileHelp
$29.95
Bay Alarm Medical
Best value
$27.95
Medical Guardian
Our top pick
$27.95
ADT Medical Alert
~$31.99
Life Alert
~$49.95$264/yr more than Bay Alarm

LogicMark sits outside this chart on purpose: $299 once, no monthly fee, and no monitoring center. It dials your family and 911. Different product, different risk.

Fall detection: the $120-a-year question

Every add-on below is about $10 a month, or roughly $120 a year. If falls are the reason you’re shopping, pay it. A ~ marks an add-on price the provider does not publish where we can verify it. First-year totals here are monthly fees times twelve and leave out one-time equipment, which varies by brand.

SystemLively Mobile2Add-on$9.99Monthly total$34.98First year$419.76Visit site
SystemMedical GuardianAdd-on$10.00Monthly total$37.95First year$455.40Visit site
SystemBay Alarm MedicalAdd-on$10.00Monthly total$37.95First year$455.40Visit site
SystemMobileHelpAdd-on~$11.00Monthly total$40.95First year$491.40Visit site
SystemADT HealthAdd-on~$11.00Monthly total~$42.99First year~$515.88Visit site
Life Alert & LogicMarkNot offeredYou must press the button

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Estimated first-year cost with fall detection ranges from $419.76 to $515.88. 2 of 7 systems offer no automatic fall detection at any price. A ~marks a figure the brand won’t publish.

What we verified, and when

Every figure below was read off the provider’s own page on the date shown, and we keep a copy of the page we read it from. Life Alert publishes no rates at all. There the absence is the finding, and we date it rather than fill the gap with a number we cannot source.

We do not lab-test devices or run a monitoring center. We verify every price and fee against the provider's own pages on a schedule, record the date and the source, and show you both.

Fees to ask about before you order

Equipment. Medical Guardian shows a $149.95 equipment cost on its monthly-billing landline plan; our Medical Guardian cost breakdown works the full year-one total. Bay Alarm leases its in-home gear for $0. MobileHelp charges nothing.

Activation. ADT charges $99 on every plan. Bay Alarm, Medical Guardian, and MobileHelp charge none.

Upfront bundles. Life Alert runs $95 to $198 up front, on top of the highest monthly fee here.

The contract.Life Alert’s is 3 years with early-termination penalties. Every other monitored brand on this page is month to month. A contract needs a reason, and we haven’t found one.

Does Medicare pay for this?

Usually no. Original Medicare (Parts A and B) doesn’t cover medical alert systems.

Some Medicare Advantage plans include an allowance, and some state Medicaid waiver programs help pay. Ask your plan before you assume either.

The full Medicare guide

Four documented ways to pay less

1. Two people, one bill. Bay Alarm monitors a second household member free after a one-time button fee. ADT adds a spouse for $3 a month.

2. Cheapest fall detection.Lively’s $9.99 add-on is the lowest here, on its cheapest base rate.

3. Skip equipment fees.MobileHelp and Bay Alarm’s leased in-home gear cost $0 up front. That’s $150+ saved versus buying hardware.

4. No fee at all, if family is close.LogicMark’s $299 button dials four contacts and 911 with no subscription. Only right when someone reliable lives nearby.

See all seven comparedOr start with our top pick

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Frequently asked questions

How much does a medical alert system cost per month in 2026?

Monitored medical alert plans in this comparison start at $27.95/month (Bay Alarm Medical) and run to an estimated $49.95/month (Life Alert, which does not publish pricing). Automatic fall detection adds $9.99–$11/month on the systems that offer it, and GPS or premium devices can add more. Always add equipment or activation fees to the advertised monthly rate.

What is the cheapest medical alert system with fall detection?

Based on published base price plus the fall-detection add-on, billed monthly, Lively is the lowest total at about $34.98/month ($24.99 base + $9.99 add-on). That is not the system with the cheapest add-on. Lively's $9.99 add-on is the lowest, but its higher $24.99 base makes the total $34.98. Figures exclude one-time equipment fees.

Which medical alert systems don't offer automatic fall detection?

In this comparison, LogicMark and Life Alert do not offer automatic fall detection at any price. Life Alert requires the user to press the button; LogicMark's no-monthly-fee device likewise has no auto-detection and no monitoring center. If fall detection matters, choose a provider that offers it as an add-on.

How much does automatic fall detection add to the monthly cost?

On the systems that offer it, automatic fall detection is an add-on starting at $9.99/month (Lively). It is never included by default. Some providers, including MobileHelp and ADT, do not publish the add-on price on a page we can check, so figures for those are marked with a ~ and should be confirmed at the point of sale. No manufacturer publishes a certified accuracy figure, so treat fall detection as a useful backup, not a guarantee, and keep the manual button reachable.

Is there a no-monthly-fee medical alert system with fall detection?

No. The only no-monthly-fee option here (LogicMark, $299.00 one-time) has no monitoring center and no automatic fall detection: it dials preset contacts and 911. Monitored automatic fall detection requires a subscription, because a staffed 24/7 center is what responds when a fall is detected.

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Sources & references

Every base rate, add-on price and fee on this page comes from the provider's own published pricing. Life Alert does not publish rates; its figures are marked with ~ and are commonly reported amounts, not a quoted price.

Pricing and plan details are drawn from each provider's official website and verified periodically; confirm current rates at the point of purchase. Statistics are cited from the sources above.