Why Trust Us

Trust is earned through clarity, repeatable methods, and a willingness to say "don’t buy" when a product compromises privacy or resilience. Here’s why you can rely on Smart Door Locks.

Real‑World, Local‑First Focus

We evaluate locks for what matters in everyday homes, rentals, and apartments: offline control, open standards, guest workflows without app accounts, strong mechanics, and clear recovery paths. If a device collapses without a cloud, it won’t earn our recommendation.

Multidisciplinary Team

Our contributors bring complementary expertise: local networking and open protocols, door hardware and installation, STR operations, and privacy/security research. This combination lets us test both the physical and digital sides of a lock—and how they interact in imperfect, real doors.

Transparent Methods and No Pay‑to‑Play

Our methodology is published in detail, including scoring weights, outage simulations, and firmware versions. We don’t sell editorial placement, and affiliate links never determine our picks. When we update a review, we explain what changed and why.

If you see something we should test or revisit, email [email protected]. Your feedback helps us refine our guidance so you can install once and trust it for years.