Medical Guardian System Review

Medical Guardian occupies a good middle ground with price, features, and customer support, making it one of the best medical alert systems in our book.

Medical Guardian products include long-range devices for the home, a voice-activated option, and solutions for more active older adults.

And best of all: this medical alert company's monthly prices start at just under $30.

Medical Guardian's costs are split into three categories:

1. Equipment fees
2. Monthly monitoring fees
3. Optional accessory fees

If you stick to a very simple in-home system, you can pay $0 in equipment and accessory fees and just $29.95 per month.

(But if simple is what you want, there are more affordable options than Medical Guardian, including its close competitor Bay Alarm Medical.)

Medical Guardian leases some of its medical alert systems for free and charges a flat rate of $124.95 for other devices. We've listed them in the table below for easy comparison.

If you cancel your Medical Guardian service, you must return the leased equipment. Failing to do so—or returning damaged equipment—may result in a fine up to $350.

Anything purchased up front—including the Home 2.0, Mobile 2.0, and Mini Guardian—is yours to keep. 

Medical Guardian charges between about $30 and $45 per month for its professional monitoring service. 

The exact amount you pay depends on your choice of equipment.

You'll get one month of free service if you pay up front for a year's worth of monitoring. Plus, Medical Guardian throws in a few freebies—like a free lockbox (otherwise $2.99/mo.) and free ground shipping ($12.50 value)—when you make an annual payment.

If you're on a budget, this is where you need to be careful. Medical Guardian charges per month for accessories and extra services, which adds up quickly. 

Here are the per-month fees for accessory add-ons:

Learn more about these accessories in our Medical Guardian product guide.

You'll also see these two options at checkout:

• Protection Plan: $6.99/mo.
• OnGuard Alerts: $2.99/mo.

The Protection Plan is essentially a paid warranty. With OnGuard Alerts, your loved ones receive real-time texts and emails when you press the emergency button.

Access to the MyGuardian caregiver app and web portal is included with your monthly plan.

Medical Guardian doesn't advertise a free trial or money-back guarantee, but the customer service representative we spoke to said customers get a full refund if cancelling within 14 days.

After that, Medical Guardian offers prorated refunds for its emergency monitoring services, so you get some money back for unused days if you cancel in the middle of the month.

If you leased your equipment, you have to return it when cancelling. You're responsible for paying the return shipping fee. You may also get fined up to $350 if the equipment is damaged or you don't return it within 30 days.  

You can keep any equipment you purchased. If you send it back, you'll be charged a $50 restocking fee. 

Medical Guardian has some impressive equipment for active older adults and those who prefer to stay home. It's also one of just three medical alert companies with a voice-activated option.

If you or your loved one have limited mobility, look into the Classic Guardian or Home 2.0. These systems come with a base unit and a wearable help button that allow you to move freely around your house. You can call for help with the lanyard or wrist button or use the base station. 

GPS medical alerts are better for busy, more mobile users. Like their home-based counterparts, the Mini Guardian and Mobile 2.0 are equipped with a simple help button, two-way talk, and GPS tracking for emergency responders to find you quickly whether you're at home or not.

The Mobile 2.0 system comes with a wearable alert button and a separate GPS unit you’ll need to take with you at all times. The Active Guardian, on the other hand, rolls all of it into one wearable device.

Medical Guardian offers a caregiver portal called MyGuardian. Access is included with each equipment package. Caregivers can log on via the smartphone app or online portal to update their loved one's information, chat with other caregivers, organize tasks, view location history, pay Medical Guardian bills, and view system status. 

The customer service options through Medical Guardian are pretty standard. Paying customers will get access to an online portal where they can view things like account details and payments. If you have a question, check the page’s FAQ section first. From here, you can find answers on anything from Medical Guardian’s Freedom Guardian watch to how to get fall alerts.

While researching Medical Guardian, we came across mixed customer reviews. Most reviews reported friendly representatives, reliable products, and even competitive price matching. But we also saw feedback from upset customers who claimed issues like deceptive pricing. The majority of customers seemed satisfied with the quality of Medical Guardian’s customer service and equipment.

While Medical Guardian's price range doesn’t fit everyone’s needs, you get what you pay for with high-quality equipment. The signal range and battery life for most of its equipment leads the medical alert industry. We also think it's the best medical alert provider for system customization.

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