Liberty Home Guard vs American Home Shield (2025)

Liberty Home Guard (LHG) and American Home Shield (AHS) are among the most recognizable brand names in the home warranty industry, but there are dozens of nuances that separate the two providers and the customers they serve best. Here’s your cheat sheet to compare the two leading home warranty companies, so you can determine a clear winner.

Overview of Liberty Home Guard

Liberty Home Guard is a Brooklyn-based home warranty provider. Since beginning operations in 2017, it’s expanded to all 50 states, plus Washington DC. 

Key Features of Liberty Home Guard

• Liberty Home Guard provides coverage for up to 30 systems and appliances, which is 7 more than American Home Shield’s most comprehensive plans. 
• LHG offers tons of less common add-on options, including salt water pools, carpet cleaning, pro-series appliances, pest control, and gutter cleaning. 
• Liberty Home Guard’s contractor network extends to all 50 states, while AHS only covers the contiguous states.

 

Liberty Home Guard’s Pricing and Plans

Liberty Home Guard offers three plan options: Appliance Guard, Systems Guard, and Total Home Guard. The first two plans are exclusive to appliances and systems respectively, but Total Home Guard is a fully comprehensive combination plan. You can purchase any of the three plans for one upfront fee or split payments into more affordable monthly installments.

 

Let’s break it down. 

 

 

When you purchase the annual plan, you’ll receive two months of free coverage plus free limited roof leak protection.

*Price reflects a single-family home in Pennsylvania, smaller than 5,000 square feet. Costs may vary by location and home size.

Pros and Cons of Liberty Home Guard

LHG’s advantages outweigh its disadvantages, but you’ll need to consider both to make the best decision.

Pros of Liberty Home Guard

• Liberty Home Guard offers a 60-day workmanship guarantee, which is 2 times the length of the typical 30-day warranty. 
• LHG’s plan prices are roughly 48% less expensive than AHS.
• Liberty Home Guard’s online quote process leaves no room for confusion. It explicitly lists the covered items in each plan, whereas American Home Shield uses more general terms like “kitchen appliances.”
• LHG has very clear coverage caps and exclusions for each covered item. 
• According to a sample service agreement and many customer reviews, LHG often initiates the claims process in as little as 24 hours. 

Cons of Liberty Home Guard

• Liberty Home Guard may not be as transparent with service call fees during the quote process.
• Roof leak protection is only available as an add-on, whereas AHS bundles it with its most comprehensive plan option. 

 

Overview of American Home Shield

American Home Shield is considered to be the founder of the home warranty industry as we know it. It was founded in 1971 and has maintained continuous operation, making it the oldest and most well-known home warranty provider in the country. Its name recognition isn’t all good though. Over the years, there have been several lawsuits and allegations of predatory behaviors, so that’s important to keep in mind.

Key Features of American Home Shield

• American Home Shield offers dynamic pricing that changes based on your geographic location and selected service call fee.
• American Home Shield’s most comprehensive plan goes far beyond the typical home warranty, including discounts for home maintenance services and video chats with live experts. 
• AHS boasts an impressive legacy of more than 52 years of home warranty business.

American Home Shield’s Pricing and Plans

Like Liberty Home Guard, American Home Shield offers three plan tiers: an appliance-exclusive plan, a systems-exclusive plan, and a combination plan that covers all those items, plus a few extra perks. AHS’s lowest tier plan, ShieldSilver™, is cheaper than LHG’s basic plan, but all other plans are significantly more expensive. 

The service call fee is the main differentiator here. American Home Shield’s cheapest fee is $100, which may be outside of budget-conscious homeowners’ ideal range, and it often results in higher monthly fees. We also didn’t like that there didn’t appear to be any annual prices displayed for those who may want to pay upfront or give it as a gift.

 

 

**Price reflects the same single-family home used in the LHG quote. AHS quotes can be very different from location to location.

Pros and Cons of American Home Shield

AHS has upsides and downsides. Let’s review the positive aspects of an AHS home warranty and compare them against the potential negatives.

Pros of American Home Shield

• The ShieldPlatinum™ plan includes compelling additional benefits, such as roof leak repairs, one HVAC tune-up, unlimited refrigerant, video consults with experts, and coverage for code violations and permits. 
• All plans cover unknown pre-existing conditions.
• Though its overall coverage caps aren’t always clear, its named coverage caps are generous.

 

Cons of American Home Shield

• American Home Shield doesn’t advertise an annual price or discount opportunity when you request a quote online. 
• AHS doesn’t offer plans in Alaska or Hawaii.
• The company has many past legal actions and thousands of negative reviews.

Compare Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield

We compared Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield’s covered items, so you can easily reference your highest priority system and appliances.

Who is better for appliance coverage between Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield?

Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield cover similar appliances, but the former’s exclusions are more straightforward. While AHS includes two more appliances: trash compactors and freestanding ice makers, they are much less common in American homes, so it can be misleading and leave you paying for coverage you don’t need.

Liberty Home Guard pays up to $2,000 per appliance when it malfunctions due to normal wear and tear. American Home Shield’s ShieldGold™ plan has the exact same coverage cap per appliance, but its ShieldPlatinum™ plan doubles this limit to $4,000. However, it’s critical to be aware that the promises given in a provider’s policy are only as good as the company standing behind them. Do your research and evaluate which company is doing a better job at satisfying its customers. Here is the Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield coverage comparison:

 

 

Who provides better systems coverage between Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield?

While American Home Shield advertises a higher systems coverage cap of $5,000, when you read the fine print and customer reviews they do a very poor job in fulfilling that promise whereas Liberty Home Guard seems to absolutely excel in fixing systems issues quickly and saving customers thousands of dollars on systems related repairs and replacements. It also seems to be common practice of Liberty Home Guard to provide courtesy payouts for claims that are not covered whereas American Home Shield does not ever offer such courtesy payouts. American Home Shield has also been subject to multiple lawsuits, including class action lawsuits, regarding unscrupulous sales and claims tactics they use to get out of system claims–for example they were paying their technicians to intentionally misdiagnose these issues in order to get out of paying for covered claims.

Let’s compare the covered systems for each provider.

 

While it seems that American Home Shield covers more systems than Liberty Home Guard, this strategy appears to be another sales tactic to inflate its offerings. Doorbells and smoke detectors are seldom costly repairs and fewer than 10% of American homes have central vacuums. 

Which company offers better add-on options between Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield?

Liberty Home Guard’s add-on options are far more extensive than American Home Shield and they are substantially more unique. Let’s start with American Home Shield’s options, considering there are only a few. 

American Home Shield offers the following add-on options:

• Roof leak repair ($10/month)
• Electronics Protection ($18/month)
• Pool and built-in spa equipment ($24/month)
• Guest unit up to 750 square feet ($12.99/month)
• Septic pump ($5/month)
• Well pump ($8/month)

AHS caps roof leak repair at $1,000, but will pay up to $3,000 for pool and spa equipment, so it’s important to read your coverage terms carefully and avoid making assumptions.

Liberty Home Guard caps all add-on options at a lower total limit but similar to systems, these promises are only as good as the company standing behind it, and ultimately Liberty Home Guard seems to be delivering much more true value to their customers on these optional add-on items than American Home Shield is. LHG offers the following add-on options:

• Additional spa ($9.99/month)
• Carpet cleaning ($9.99/month)
• Casita guest unit ($35.99/month)
• Central Vacuum ($8.99/month)
• Ejector pump ($14.99/month)
• Electronics protection ($19.99/month)
• Freestanding ice maker ($14.99/month)
• Generator ($19.99/month)
• Grinder pump ($14.99/month)
• Gutter cleaning ($14.99/month)
• In-fridge ice maker ($3.99/month)
• Instant hot water dispenser ($9.99/month)
• Lawn sprinkler system ($9.99/month)
• Lighting fixtures ($7.99/month)
• Limited roof-leak ($11.99/month)
• Pest control ($14.99/month)
• Plumbing fixtures ($7.99/month)
• Pool and spa ($19.99/month)
• Pro-series clothes dryer ($4.99/month)
• Pro-series dishwasher ($7.99/month)
• Pro-series microwave ($4.99/month)
• Pro-series range/oven/cooktop ($12.99/month)
• Pro-series refrigerator ($14.99/month)
• Pro-series standalone freezer ($14.99/month)
• Pro-series washing machines ($4.99/month)
• Power washing for exterior flooring ($19.99/month)
• Re-key services ($9.99/month)
• Reverse osmosis water filter system ($14.99/month)
• Saltwater pool ($23.99/month)
• Second refrigerator ($7.99/month)
• Septic system pumping ($12.99/month)
• Stand-alone freezer ($5.99/month)
• Sump pump ($8.99/month)
• Swamp cooler ($14.99/month)
• Trash compactor ($7.49/month)
• Water dispenser water line ($4.99/month)
• Water softener ($13.99/month)
• Well pump ($12.99/month)
• Window washing/cleaning ($19.99/month)
• Wine cooler/fridge ($11.99/month)

 

Some add-ons, like gutter cleaning and carpet cleaning, have a limit for how many times you can use them, so again, it’s important to read your service agreement carefully to ensure you understand the limitations of your coverage and look at what other customers are saying about their experience with these coverage items.

Customer Experience Analysis

A company can say all the right things and market directly to you, but it doesn’t serve you much if they can’t provide a worthwhile customer experience. In our view, this is the most important variable when assessing a home warranty company. We’ve dug deep into Liberty Home Guard’s customer reviews and ratings to learn more about their reputations in the industry. 

Liberty Home Guard Customer Reviews and Ratings

Liberty Home Guard’s reviews are very positive, especially for this industry. Most notably, LHG has an impressive 4.7 star rating from more than 15,000 Google Reviews. Likewise on Trustpilot, it maintains a 4.7 out of 5 star average based on more than 5,400 reviews. The company touts a best-in-class 4.29 out of 5 stars with the BBB based on nearly 2,000 reviews.

When vetting a potential home warranty provider, it’s important to pay attention and closely read a bunch of reviews with varying star ratings to ensure you get a full picture of the range of experiences.

Here’s a sampling of some of their more recent reviews: star reviews we picked out from TrustPilot and ConsumerAffairs:

• "Got the usual straightforward home warranty experience in terms of filing a claim, and getting attacked to the location. But, the tech was great the issue was resolved and Liberty guard did not try to haggle with me over the equipment or the price.” – Rob Baker on Google on May 26, 2025. 
• “Excellent! Agent Nai was professional and helpful. Liberty Home Guard is the best home warrant on the market. I vouch for this as i have been with Liberty for 18 months now covering 8 single home properties. I have tried 5 other companies including AHS, FAH, CHW, SHW, ARW and OR they were all about declining coverage.” –Basman on Google on May 23, 2025.
• “We were referred to Liberty Home Guard Warranty by our Son. The application process was very easy. We researched their website for information on coverage and prices. As we were researching, we received a call and text from an associate to help with a decision. The associate provided incentives and discounts we did not expect. And with the no obligation, cancel any time feature, we decided to purchase the product.” – Ken Franklin on Google on May 19, 2025.

Also, we’ve seen that many unsatisfied customers returned to update their reviews after receiving a satisfactory resolution from Liberty Home Guard–further proving Liberty Home Guard prioritizes customer satisfaction above all else. The only pattern of critical feedback we could find on Liberty Home Guard was that sometimes service gets delayed, but measured relative to other home warranty companies this seems to be an industry-wide issue and Liberty Home Guard seems to have the lowest amount of critical feedback in this category. We would consider this a reasonable trade-off for the peace of mind. When you enroll in a home warranty, you no longer have to worry about finding and vetting contractors at a fair price. 

American Home Shield Customer Reviews and Ratings

American Home Shield also has a relatively positive online presence, including its B-rating from BBB, 4.1 stars on Trustpilot, and 3.8 stars on ConsumerAffairs, but the waters are murky. Despite its BBB rating, AHS maintains less than a 1.9 star average rating (versus LHGs 4.3) from nearly 10,000 reviews. On Trustpilot, 44% of reviews sit at 5 stars but 46% are 1-star, leaving roughly 10% in that credible middle-of-the-road range we mentioned in the last section. As such, it’s quite clear that Liberty Home Guard’s customers are left happier with their experience versus American Home Shield’s.

Here’s a small sampling of some their more recent reviews:

• “I would give it couple more stars if it would be easier to cancel their service. Getting a technician out takes a very long time because their approved providers are swamped. And if something breaks on your house the tech will be there in a couple of weeks to fix it. Had to hire someone on my own and pay out of pocket to get my water heater fixed. Used their service a few times for AC and garage door. Process is pretty straightforward, but takes weeks to get someone out.” –Aleksandr N on BBB on 05/01/2025
• “I purchased a home for my elderly parents in January of this year. The Ac was no longer cooling on Friday April 25th, so we requested service via online through American Home Shield online site. Little did I know, companies that are approved to work with AHS "DO NOT WORK ON WEEKENDS." It is April 30th and my elderly parents are still without air-conditioning in *********. I have been in touch with both AHS and the ************* unfortunately it seems like no one is communication with each other. Is anyone worried about my elderly parents living in heat for 5 days. I will not ever purchase a warranty from this company again. They do not back their product.” – Edna E. on the BBB on 04/30/2025
• “I had kept my AHS Warranty for 5 years and just cancelled by policy today. While I did not like the overall process, over time I made a number of claims and generally it worked out fine. What I discovered this time was 1.) They do not manage their contractors - at all. 2.) They do not scrutinize their contractors and if you have a bad one, you cannot get another. 3.) They are likely managed from a call center in the *********** or ***** (which they did not deny) so their customer ********************** is really non-existent. In the most recent case, the contractor lied about the assessment, did not update us or AHS on the assessment, and only ordered the part after AHS and they were pressured to do so. Also, I think AHS and the contractor are coordinating these responses to avoid payment. Customer ********************** is just paid to hear you complain to make you feel better claiming they are just following their procedures which tells me they are not operating in the ****” –Kris L on the BBB on 04/30/2025 

Response Times and Claim Processing Comparison

Liberty Home Guard promises to begin the claims process within 24 hours during normal business hours, but it may take up to 48 hours during other times, like nights and weekends, and generally based on our research and customer feedback, they seem to be doing a good job at living up to these promises. American Home Shield says that they stick to a 48-hour window, but the customer feedback does not seem to support this. This timeline is standard across the home warranty industry, but the reality on the ground can be different. While both companies have complaints and critical feedback regarding slow repairs and delays, which often comes down to contractor availability, it seems to be a much larger pattern and issue for American Home Shield. Generally for regular claims home warranty companies will need to send out a technician to determine whether the source of the problem is the result of a covered event. Traditional home warranties such as American Home Shield have a limited scope of service, focused primarily on wear and tear, rather than accidental or secondary damage. Unlike those traditional home warranties, Liberty Home Guard has a “Project Management” program that allows customers to realize savings and use their coverage for issues that traditional home warranties do not cover, such as pre-existing issues and accidental or secondary damage.

Both AHS and LHG offer user-friendly claims portals and a 24/7 hotline to begin the process, making it easier to address the issue as quickly as possible.

Final Verdict: Which Home Warranty Provider Is Better?

Liberty Home Guard is our pick as the better home warranty provider against American Home Shield. American Home Shield has a lot going for it, including its long legacy in the industry and generous coverage caps, but its high price tag, reduced service area, and less-common inclusions limit its broad spectrum appeal. On the other hand, Liberty Home Guard’s competitive pricing, customizable add-ons, and nationwide availability allow it to fit a wide variety of American households.

Best Scenarios for Choosing Liberty Home Guard

Simply put, Liberty Home Guard offers an excellent value at all plan tiers, making it highly flexible for homeowners who want systems-only, appliance-only, or combination coverage. Liberty Home Guard may be ideal for budget-conscious homeowners who want a lot of bang for their buck without sacrificing the freedom to elect add-ons for further customization. Compared to AHS, Liberty Home Guard’s plans are more competitively priced, bundling the most essential home systems and appliances with generous payouts and coverage that go above and beyond what they are obligated to under the policy.

Making Your Final Decision

Liberty Home Guard comes out ahead in most categories but home warranties are incredibly personal, so  go with your gut. We recommend requesting a quote from both companies and at least one more, so you can thoroughly compare potential costs and plan terms. When in doubt, the best thing you can do is to ask for referrals from trusted friends, neighbors, and other loved ones. While it’s great to review a sample contract and spend some time with customer service to ask questions, don’t lose sight of the fact that ultimately what matters is the convenience and value that the Home Warranty Company provides, and the best way to discern that is to see what customers have to say about their experiences.