SHOPTERA™
Subscribe
Best Of — Smart Home & Security

The best smart locks of 2026

Eighteen locks installed on our own doors, then drilled, picked, frozen, and app-crashed for three months. We time every unlock to the tenth of a second, run every battery flat, and try to break in the way a burglar would. Rankings rebuild when the data changes — every move is logged below.

Tested by Marco R.Updated Aug 22, 2026Hands-on tested · 18 locksMethodology v1.0
01 · Best overall[No. 156]
The August 5th-gen lock on our test door8.8
Retrofit · inside only0.9s unlock3 mo batteryMatter · HomeKit

August Smart Lock (5th gen)

New #1 Aug 2026 · the renter's dream

The August replaces nothing — it clamps over the inside of your existing deadbolt, so the outside of the door never changes and your keys keep working. Twelve minutes after opening the box, ours was auto-unlocking as we reached the handle: 0.9 seconds from approach to open, the fastest we've ever timed, and 97 of 100 auto-unlock approaches worked on the first try. The tax is the battery — three months measured, and you will learn the low-battery chirp.

Pros

  • Fastest unlock we've timed (0.9s)
  • 12-minute install, keys keep working
  • Landlord-proof — nothing visible outside

Cons

  • 3-month battery life is the tax
  • Inside-only — keypad costs extra
$229 street · tracked weeklyCheck pricevs Best keypad
02 · Best keypad[No. 152]
The Yale Assure Lock 3 keypad on a front door8.6
Full replacementKeypad + app9 mo batteryANSI Grade 2

Yale Assure Lock 3 Keypad

The set-and-forget homeowner pick

The Yale replaces your deadbolt entirely and puts a keypad where the cylinder used to be — which means the cleaner gets a code, the in-laws get a code, and nobody gets a key to lose. Our battery run went 9 months and 2 days on four AAs, the longest in the test group, and with no cylinder there is literally nothing to pick. The trade: a 25-minute install with a drill, and if the electronics ever die you're entering through another door.

Pros

  • 9-month batteries — measured, not claimed
  • Guest codes without anyone installing an app
  • No cylinder for anyone to pick

Cons

  • 25-minute install, drill required
  • No physical key fallback
$189 street · tracked weeklyCheck pricevs Best overall
03 · Built like a vault[No. 149]
The Schlage Encode Plus installed on a solid door8.4
ANSI Grade 1Apple home key6 mo batteryKeyed backup

Schlage Encode Plus

The one that shrugged off our abuse tests

ANSI Grade 1 is the commercial-duty rating — a million-cycle certification most consumer locks don't attempt — and the Encode Plus wears it honestly: our pick and bump bench got nowhere, and the security cylinder held. It's also the only lock here with Apple home key, so an iPhone or Watch tap unlocks it with the screen off. You pay in speed (1.6s, the slowest of our picks), weight on the door, and money.

Pros

  • ANSI Grade 1 — strongest build tested
  • Apple home key tap-to-unlock
  • Keyed backup stays in your pocket

Cons

  • Slowest unlock of our picks (1.6s)
  • $299 — the premium is real
$299 street · tracked weeklyCheck price
Our #1 pick: August Smart Lock (5th gen)Best overall
Check price
Torn between two? Put them side by side.Every number on this page in the live compare tool — winners marked per row
Open the compare tool

Questions we get about this list

Can a smart lock actually be hacked?
The realistic risks are the same as any deadbolt — the window next to it — plus phishing your phone. All three picks use local Bluetooth with encrypted pairing; none failed our replay-attack test. The practical advice is boring: strong account password, two-factor on, firmware updates applied.
What happens when the battery dies?
You get weeks of warnings first — app nags, then chirps. If you ignore all of it: the August still opens with your ordinary key, the Schlage with its backup key, and the Yale accepts a 9V battery held to its terminals to wake the keypad. Nobody gets locked out in our testing; people get annoyed.
Do brands pay to be here?
No. We buy every lock ourselves and partners never see rankings before publication. Affiliate links share the same rank order as the free page — always.
The best smart locks of 2026 — Shoptera