Life Alert vs. Bay Alarm Medical

Most of our readers will find Bay Alarm Medical’s prices and policies much more palatable than Life Alert’s. Plus, anyone interested in fall detection or caregiver features—including app-based GPS tracking—should steer clear of Life Alert by default.

That said, we gotta give Life Alert props for selling a better wall button than Bay Alarm Medical. Life Alert also has a slight edge in terms of battery life, but we don’t think that’s enough to justify its staggeringly high prices.

All in all, Bay Alarm Medical’s the runaway winner when compared to Life Alert.

Bay Alarm Medical is one of the best medical alert companies on the market. Its systems are fairly priced, easy to use, and customizable. 

Bay Alarm Medical is also one of the few medical alert companies to offer a full 30-day refund period and a price lock guarantee.

Read our Bay Alarm Medical review to learn more.

We don’t recommend Life Alert because we don’t want you to be overcharged. Even though we admire Life Alert’s long-lasting batteries and two-way-talk shower button, we don’t think that justifies a nearly $90/mo. service fee.

Read our Life Alert review to learn more.

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Here’s what Life Alert and Bay Alarm Medical have in common:

• Landline, cellular, and mobile devices
• Wall buttons
• Five Diamond–certified monitoring centers
• Paid warranty
• No voice-activated buttons
• No medication reminders
• No motion sensors or inactivity alerts

Bay Alarm Medical boasts more customer-friendly policies and a greater variety of safety features compared to Life Alert.

Even if you think you don’t need fall detection, spouse coverage, or a caregiver app right now, consider whether you might need them in the future. If you choose Life Alert, there’s no way to add those services—Life Alert simply doesn’t offer them, and it’s tough to cancel your Life Alert contract early.

On the other hand, it’s easy to add or remove services from your Bay Alarm Medical package or to cancel the service altogether.

No matter how you slice it, Bay Alarm Medical is more affordable than Life Alert.

Bay Alarm Medical’s monitoring fees start at $24.99/month, whereas Life Alert’s start at $49.95/month for the same type of equipment. Yes, you read that right—Life Alert costs twice as much as Bay Alarm Medical.

That said, you can still rack up quite a monthly bill with Bay Alarm Medical, but you’ll get way more equipment in return. We went hog-wild on the Bay Alarm Medical Website and added this to our cart for a total of $84.90 a month:

• In-home cellular system
• SOS Smartwatch
• 4 wall buttons
• 2 fall detection pendants
• Extra help button for a spouse
• 4 stylish pendant covers
• Lock box
• Vial of Life
• Extended warranty

Let’s compare that to what you get from Life Alert for $89.95 a month:

• In-home cellular system
• Mobile system
• 1 shower button

Your money stretches much further with Bay Alarm Medical.

Life Alert and Bay Alarm Medical both charge one-time fees. Bay Alarm Medical sticks to equipment and shipping fees, whereas Life Alert charges equipment, shipping, and activation fees.

Life Alert charges around $200 to $300 in one-time activation and equipment fees, but the price increases with every piece of equipment you add to the package.

Bay Alarm Medical doesn’t charge any equipment fees for its in-home systems. Fall detection pendants cost $30 upfront and mobile systems cost up to $200. Optional accessories—like Bella Charms, extra pendants, and a Vial of Life form—also increase the price of a Bay Alarm Medical package.

As with the monthly charges, you get more for your money when you pay Bay Alarm Medical’s upfront fees.

Although we strongly suggest our readers consider alternatives to Life Alert due to its exorbitant price, we have to admit this medical alert company does a couple of things right.

First up: battery life. Life Alert claims its “batteries never need charging.” That’s possible because Life Alert’s equipment doesn’t include battery-draining features like fall detection or caregiver GPS tracking.

Expect up to 72 hours of backup battery life from the Life Alert base station and up to 10 years of battery life from the pendant battery. In contrast, Bay Alarm Medical’s base station lasts up to 32 hours on a backup battery, and its pendant buttons should be replaced every 5 years or so.

Plus, Life Alert monitors the button battery life from afar and sends you a new pendant when the battery starts to fade. Bay Alarm Medical offers the same service, but only to customers who pay for the extended warranty.

Learn more about our recommended medical alerts with the best battery life.

The second thing we like about Life Alert is its wall button. It includes a built-in speaker and microphone so you can talk to the monitoring center without having to shout at a base station in the other room.

In contrast, Bay Alarm Medical’s button triggers a call on the base station, and you might not be able to communicate your needs if you’re too far away for the monitor to hear you.

We like exactly two things about Life Alert—and that’s definitely not enough for us to whip out the pom-poms and sing its praises.

On the other hand, Bay Alarm Medical offers a variety of features at a great price. And since we’ve tested Bay Alarm’s system ourselves, we can confirm that it’s not just a matter of looking good on paper: the folks at the other end of the line are friendly and easy to understand.

• Bay Alarm Medical: You’ll love this company’s low prices, price-lock guarantee, and fall detection option.
• Life Alert: If budget-friendly prices, fall detection, and caregiver features aren’t priorities, you’ll appreciate the convenience of long-lasting batteries and a wall button with a speaker.

Still undecided? Read our full Life Alert and Bay Alarm Medical reviews.

We compared Bay Alarm Medical and Life Alert across more than 40 objective attributes and ranked them according to our own weighted system. We also spoke to representatives from both companies and tested Bay Alarm Medical equipment hands-on. To learn more about how we rank and review products, visit the SafeWise methodology page.

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