SimpliSafe's additional user access article explains sharing without sharing a password. It is available to subscribers of a paid residential monitoring plan, though the added person does not need a plan, and only the Account Owner must subscribe. A person added becomes a User, and you can add up to 25 Users to one location. Users can arm and disarm remotely, cancel or escalate alarms, view the timeline, activity, status and live camera streams, view, download and delete recordings, manage alert and notification settings and manage device and system settings.
The checks in more detail
They cannot remove the Owner, view or change billing and have limited access to Active Guard Outdoor Protection. To add a user, open the app, choose My System, System Access, Add User, enter the name and email and Send Invitation. Invitations expire after seven days and can be resent from System Access, and the person must sign up with the invited email address. If adding fails, check for typos and trailing spaces and try again later.
Access applies to one location, so switch location to add someone elsewhere. For people who only need door access, the Smart Lock can hold its own PINs. Keep the account secure using SimpliSafe's account security guidance. Keep a list of who has access and review it when someone moves out. A new user who sees nothing may be signed in with a different email. Ask new users to sign in once. A tenant and landlord arrangement may want separate Users so the record of who armed the system is clear.
SimpliSafe's Users can manage device and system settings, so treat User access as trust in the whole system, and give a guest a temporary PIN on the Keypad or lock instead of an app account. Invitations last seven days, so send them when the person is ready to accept and remind them to use the invited email. When a household member leaves, remove their User access the same day and change any PIN they knew, since access that outlives a relationship is the most common quiet gap.
Differential
Likely causes of “SimpliSafe Base Station shared users or family members cannot control it”, and how to tell them apart
- 1
An expired invitation
What separates it The person cannot join because the invitation has expired before they used it
How to confirm Resend the invitation from System Access in the app, and ask them to accept it soon after
- 2
A typo or trailing space
What separates it The invitation fails to send because of a typo or a trailing space in the email or name
How to confirm Correct the email address and the name, remove any spaces, then send the invitation again
- 3
The wrong email
What separates it The person cannot sign in because they used a different email from the one you invited
How to confirm Ask them to sign up with the exact email address that you used for the invitation
- 4
No residential plan
What separates it The sharing feature is not offered because the account has no paid residential monitoring plan
How to confirm The owner needs to subscribe to a residential monitoring plan before users can be added
- 5
Another location
What separates it The person sees nothing because they were given access to a different location
How to confirm Add them to the right location in System Access, so that they can see and control that system
Before you touch a setting
Record this first — changing settings destroys the evidence
- Whether the invitation shows as pending, expired or accepted
- The exact email address used for the invitation
- Which monitoring plan the account has
- Which location the person was added to
Try in this order
0 of 7 completedOpen System Access
ReversibleOpen System Access from My System in the app, which is where every shared user is managed.
Add User
ReversibleChoose Add User and enter the person's name and their email address, checking both for typing mistakes.
Send the invitation
ReversibleSend the invitation, remembering that it expires after seven days if the person does not accept it.
Ask them to use the invited email
ReversibleAsk them to use the invited email address when they sign up, so that the invitation matches.
Resend if expired
ReversibleResend the invitation from System Access if it has expired, and ask them to accept it promptly.
Review Users
ReversibleReview the Users list regularly, and remove anyone who no longer needs access to the system.
Contact SimpliSafe
ReversibleContact SimpliSafe if inviting still fails, and tell them the email used and what the app shows.
Model-specific
What is true of this model and not of its siblings
- Roles
- Owner and User.
- Limit
- Up to 25 Users per location.
Stop boundary
When this stops being a self-service repair
- !If invitations keep failing, contact SimpliSafe support and give them the email used
- !If the person still lacks access, check that they were added to the right location
- !If you are worried about security, review the Users list and remove anyone who should not have access
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Users and invitations.
Account security.
Notification types and setup.
Delays.
The company and its products.
Exact questions
Common questions
Do users need a plan?+
No, only the owner needs a paid plan, and the added people do not have to pay for one themselves.
How long do invitations last?+
An invitation lasts seven days, and after that you need to send a fresh one from System Access.
Can users change billing?+
No, added users cannot change the billing, which stays under the control of the account owner.
Can users arm and disarm?+
Yes, added users can arm and disarm the system, and they can do so from their own phones.
Can I share a location only?+
Yes, you can give someone access to a single location, without sharing your other locations.