The question is usually put as what it costs to put a keypad or a card reader on the door, and the reader is the least of it. Most of the money is in the lock behind the reader, the cable to it, and whether the door is in a state to be controlled at all. Once you know that, the estimates make sense and you can tell which of two is actually the cheaper one.
The six things that set the price
- How many doors. Everything scales with the door count. One front door with a keypad is a small job; six doors across two floors is a system. Count only the doors you need to control, and note which are exterior, which are interior, and whether any are fire-rated or already carry panic hardware, because each of those changes what can be fitted.
- The reader. A keypad is the least expensive and needs no credentials. A proximity card or fob reader costs more and is the usual choice for a staff of any size. Smart-card and mobile-credential readers cost more again, and a reader that does both lets you move to phones later without changing the hardware. Biometric readers are the top of the range and rarely needed for a small office.
- The credentials. Cards and fobs are bought per person, and replacements add up over the years; mobile credentials are usually a subscription instead. Either way it is a per-head cost, so headcount is part of the number.
- The lock on each door. The part people underestimate. An electric strike works with the latch the door already has and is the cheapest way to control a swinging door. A magnetic lock holds harder but needs exit hardware, a sensor to release it and a way out on power failure, and the code has a view on it. An electrified lever or mortise lock is cleaner and costs more. A standalone electronic lock with the reader built in needs no wiring at all, which is why it wins on a single interior door — and loses on ten, because each one is managed on its own.
- The wiring. The biggest variable after the door count. A door near the network closet with an accessible ceiling above it is a short run; a door across a slab, through a hard ceiling, or in a storefront where the frame is aluminum and glass takes longer and shows. Each controlled door also needs a power supply, a door-position contact, and a request-to-exit device so that leaving never needs a credential.
- The software. On-premises software is a one-time cost and is yours; cloud systems are a subscription per door per month, managed from a browser or a phone from anywhere. Over five years the subscription is usually the larger figure. Over one, it is the smaller.
What does not change the number much
The brand of the reader matters less than the lock and the wiring behind it. Adding a schedule — unlock at eight, lock at six — or a second user group costs nothing on any current system. Tying the front door to a video intercom so a visitor can be buzzed in from a phone adds one device, not a second system.
Where the money hides
Two places. The first is the door itself: a door that does not close and latch on its own cannot be controlled by anything, so a tired closer or a sagging storefront door gets fixed first, and that belongs in the estimate rather than arriving as a surprise on the day. The second is the fire-rated door in the corridor, which limits what hardware can go on it, and the exit door with a panic bar, which needs an electrified version of that bar rather than a strike, because the bar has to keep working from the inside no matter what the system is doing.
Running costs
A cloud subscription is the obvious one. Less obvious: batteries in standalone locks, replacement fobs for the ones that go through the wash, and a service visit when a strike or a reader fails after years of use. None of these is large, but a five-year view of a system is the honest one, and a low first-year number with a subscription behind it can cost more over that span than a higher number without one.
How to keep it sensible
Control fewer doors than you first thought — the front door, the server room, the stockroom — and leave interior doors on keys until you know you miss them. Use strikes where the door allows. Pick a reader that can take a mobile credential later even if you start on fobs. And ask every estimate to list the lock type per door, the wiring runs, and any subscription separately, because a low number that omits one of those is not low.
We walk the building, count the doors, look at each one's hardware, and write all of it down in a free estimate that shows the number per door. The walkthrough is same-day when the schedule allows.