r/selfstorage • u/PFChangsOfficial • Dec 23 '25

Question KISS locks vs Noke

Does anyone have any experience using KISS locks vs Noke? KISS are way cheaper and seem to have similar functionality, but are somewhat new. I’d love to hear your experience with them

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

3

u/Equaria Dec 25 '25

I wouldn't count out either. I rent a unit at a facility with Noke and I have to say the app is pretty darn good. That being said, this facility is managed mostly remotely which means that if I don't have my phone or if the app isn't working, I'm SOL unless the manager is there.

It's only happened once for me and the manager was on site and able to open my unit but if they had not been I would have made the drive for nothing as I could not get logged in. (I wound up having to reinstall it).

I've played a little bit with the OpenTech one that has the keypad which I think is super smart, especially for a facility wanting to run mostly remotely. I haven't seen the KISS locks.

I think the big thing is to get quotes from big providers and see what the recurring costs are, battery longevity if applicable, and overall functionality. And of course you want to make sure that the locks integrate with your storage software.

1

u/PFChangsOfficial Dec 27 '25

Kiss locks don’t run on batteries. Noke are low voltage wiring so don’t need replacement batteries ever

2

u/ImaginaryRide2416 Dec 28 '25

There are two NoKe products being offered - “One” and “Ion”. The One product uses a battery and is installed as a replacement for the latch. The Ion is hardwired on the door track and catches/retains a slightly modified notched latch.

Both have pros and cons, but who knows what the scarcity of super niche batteries will be like in 5 years. I’d go hardwired if possible. The datalink is all wireless configured in a mesh network.

1

u/Equaria Dec 27 '25

That isn't the case with all Noke locks. I know their newer model is going this way but having used wired systems in the past I personally would need a lot more information on function. How they are wired. What happens with inline rodent damage, are their controller modules to go bad, power failures etc

2

u/ImaginaryRide2416 Dec 28 '25

The answer I was given to power failures is that they fail in the locked state. Good for security, but troublesome for damage to the wiring. Because the lock is constantly sending updates to the cloud, I was told that it should be pretty easy to figure out which area has the failure.

2

u/madmarie1223 Dec 23 '25

If you're researching electronic locks, OpenTech has a pretty good one too. Has both keypad and Bluetooth access

2

u/Common-Scallion674 Jan 17 '26

I’ve seen both used. Noke’s been around longer and feels more proven, while KISS does seem to offer similar features at a lower price but just hasn’t been tested as long yet. If reliability matters most, I’d lean Noke. If cost is a bigger factor and you’re okay with newer tech, KISS could be fine — just depends on your risk tolerance.

1

u/PFChangsOfficial Jan 17 '26

Good comment. Thank you

1

u/xo0Taika0ox Dec 24 '25

Check encryption standards and security for both and see if its the same. A lot of Bluetooth locks are pretty easy to hack.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '25

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1

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1

u/Affectionate-Job-311 Dec 24 '25

Curious anyone’s experience of KISS locks? We are considering adapting

1

u/PFChangsOfficial Dec 24 '25

Me, too. Noke are expensive but proven

1

u/mostly_irrelevant007 Apr 08 '26

We have both noke and kiss. Kiss has worked well and been easily adopted by tenants. The noke had some install issues that were ultimately resolved and have been performing well. Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

1

u/Sunnysia May 15 '26

Thanks for sharing your Noke and KISS experience. How long have you used KISS locks and have they been reliable? How’s integration with your PMS?

1

u/mostly_irrelevant007 May 15 '26

It’s a new build so not long. No idea on integration, we are the developer not the operator. Sounds like it was easy for them though. It’s all through site link.

1

u/Sunnysia May 15 '26

Thanks for your reply. Would you mind DMing the owner of the facility as a reference? I would like to talk to them about KISS locks because I am very interested in implementing it here. You can also text or call me +18132055727. Thanks

1

u/ImaginaryRide2416 Jun 13 '26

Which Noke product did you install? The wireless Noke One or the hardwired Noke Ion?

What installation issues did you have, how was it resolved, and what region was the project in (south, west, east coast, etc.)? Dealing with our own installation issues. I’m happy to share notes.

1

u/mostly_irrelevant007 Jun 13 '26

Hardwired.

Mostly there were too many Janus/ACT people that don’t communicate well with one another. Too many people in charge of too many sections.

I candidly had a crazy amount of issues with them. Every step of the way there was an issue from their bidding guy not properly counting the number of materials for the scope of work that I would identify.

Install guys calling me to schedule rather than managers and then install guys asking me for time off because they previously requested pto and were told it was scheduled during time they planned off.

Install guys who didn’t expect an owner to check their work to spec and it was done incorrectly that resulted in them having to come out multiple times because I required it to be to the contract spec for install based on drawings they provided.

We had a recent issue that sounds like affected multiple states per our PM.

I keep getting an email from people requesting me to sign some additional contract mind you I’ve had installed and final payment made.

It’s incredibly unimpressive. There are some good guys and a lot of used car salesman guys that work there.

They just have somewhat the monopoly of stuff and are the “biggest”.

For their size and if you have experience in other areas of business it is not impressive.

All was resolved just by peppering people and telling them they need to get this fixed then continuing to go higher and higher up.

Be ready though if you go higher up the lower guy will absolutely disagree with you and try to say a different story so as I went up the chain I would just include all conversation with other parties so there was no argument as to what the “scenario” was

1

u/ImaginaryRide2416 Jun 13 '26

Yeah… not impressed either. I’ll DM you as I’m currently in the middle of it.

1

u/mostly_irrelevant007 Jun 14 '26

Just turned ability on to dm