Build your own home alarm system, local and private
A real DIY alarm with motion sensors, door contacts, cameras and instant alerts, running locally on hardware you own and control.
Traditional alarm systems lock you into proprietary hardware, a company's cloud, and rules you can't change. Your home security shouldn't be a black box you rent from someone else.
With Gladys Assistant you build a real alarm system from affordable, off-the-shelf sensors. It runs locally on your own machine, alerts you instantly, and behaves exactly the way you decide.
The problem with traditional monitored alarms
Off-the-shelf monitored alarms (Verisure, ADT, Ring Alarm and the like) are convenient, but the trade-offs are steep:
- Proprietary hardware and sensors locked to a single vendor.
- Your security data and camera feeds routed through a company's cloud.
- Rigid scenarios: you get their rules, not yours.
- If the company changes its terms or shuts down, your system can be left useless.
- You never really own the system, you rent it.
A self-hosted alarm flips all of that: your rules, your hardware, your data, kept at home.
Gladys DIY alarm vs a monitored subscription alarm
How a self-hosted Gladys alarm compares to a traditional monitored alarm (Verisure, ADT, Ring Alarm and similar):
| Gladys DIY alarm | Monitored subscription alarm | |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | You own the hardware and your installation | You rent the whole system |
| Your data | Stays on your local network | Routed through their cloud |
| Works offline | Yes, fully local | Limited without their service |
| Sensors & hardware | Any Zigbee or Matter sensor, your choice | Proprietary, locked to them |
| Rules & automations | Your own, fully customizable | Theirs, fixed scenarios |
| Subscription | Optional Gladys Plus for remote access, backups and camera streaming | Mandatory, the system is the subscription |
| If the company shuts down | Keeps working, it's yours | Can be left useless |
Both can involve a subscription. The difference is what you get for it: with Gladys you own your hardware and your installation, everything runs locally, and your data stays home, instead of renting a system you never control.
What your Gladys alarm can do
You get a real alarm system, assembled from simple, affordable parts:
Arm the whole house when you leave, use partial mode at night to watch only the outside, or trigger a panic alarm instantly.
Use affordable Zigbee motion detectors and door/window contacts as triggers, mix and match any brand.
On intrusion, have Gladys send you a camera snapshot so you can instantly see what's happening.
Get notified on Telegram, SMS or other channels the moment something trips while the alarm is armed.
Disarm from a wall tablet with a numeric code, and set an arming delay so you can leave before it activates.
Sound a siren, flash the lights, or run any scene you like, the response is entirely yours to design.
How a Gladys alarm works
You assemble it from simple building blocks, no installer required:
- Add the Alarm widget to your dashboard, with four modes: armed, disarmed, partial and panic.
- Set an alarm code and an arming delay in your house settings.
- Create a scene for arming (notify yourself, flash the lights), and the key one for intrusion.
- The intrusion scene triggers on motion or a door opening, with a condition that the alarm is armed, then sends alerts, a camera snapshot, and sounds a siren.
- Everything runs locally and reacts in real time, even if your internet is down.
Affordable sensors, your own rules, and a system you fully own.
Local, private, and truly yours
Because Gladys runs on your own machine, your alarm keeps working without the internet, and your sensor data and camera feeds stay on your local network, not on a security company's servers.
The Gladys core is free and open-source, so you own your whole setup. If you want to check in from afar, optional Gladys Plus adds encrypted remote access and camera streaming, on your terms, without ever handing your data to a third party.
Go further
Set it up, or combine it with the rest of your local smart home:
Step by step: modes, arming delay, code and intrusion scenes.
Make your home look occupied while you're away, a perfect companion to your alarm.
Let AI check a camera on intrusion and decide whether to alert you.
The bigger picture: a private, local smart home built on open standards.
Frequently asked questions
Can I build my own home alarm system?
Yes. With Gladys Assistant you build a real alarm system, with armed, partial and panic modes, from off-the-shelf sensors. It runs locally on your own machine, on hardware you own, with no proprietary lock-in.
What hardware do I need for a DIY alarm?
Affordable Zigbee motion detectors and door/window contacts as triggers, optionally a camera and a siren. You can mix and match brands, there's no proprietary kit to buy.
Does the alarm work without internet?
Yes. Gladys runs locally, so the alarm detects intrusions and reacts in real time even if your internet is down. Only remote notifications and remote access need a connection.
How does Gladys alert me of an intrusion?
Through scenes. When a sensor trips while the alarm is armed, Gladys can send you a Telegram or SMS alert and a camera snapshot, sound a siren, flash the lights, or run any other action you design.
Is a DIY alarm as good as a professional one?
A Gladys alarm is very capable and flexible, but it's a system you build and maintain yourself. For many people a well-built local alarm is plenty; if you want professional monitoring too, you can combine both.
Is Gladys an alternative to a subscription alarm like Verisure?
Yes, but in a different way. With Gladys you own your hardware and your installation, and your alarm runs locally on your own machine, with your data kept at home. Gladys offers an optional subscription, Gladys Plus, for encrypted remote access and camera streaming, so it isn't about avoiding a subscription altogether, it's that you stay the owner of your system and your data instead of renting a monitored service you never control.
Is my security data private?
Yes. Gladys is self-hosted, so your sensor data and camera feeds stay on your local network, with no mandatory cloud and no data resale.
Build a home alarm you actually own
Gladys is free, open-source and local-first. Build a real alarm from affordable sensors, running on your own hardware with your data kept at home.