Schlage Encode vs Encode Plus: Is Home Key Worth It?

Two locks, one deadbolt. The Schlage Encode Plus is the standard Encode with two things added, and the price difference between them is the whole decision. If you know whether your household will use Apple Home Key, you already know which one to buy. Here is what is the same, what is different, and who should pay for the Plus.

What do the Encode and Encode Plus share?

Nearly everything you touch.

• The deadbolt. Same heavy exterior housing, same bolt, same interior cover, same four AA batteries.
• The keypad. A touchscreen keypad on the outside for codes. A red X after a code means the code was rejected.
• Wi-Fi built in. Both pair through the Schlage Home app over Bluetooth and then join your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. No hub, no bridge.
• The app. Remote lock and unlock, user codes, schedules, activity history, Alexa and Google integration through Wi-Fi.
• The keyway. Both have a physical key on a Schlage C cylinder, which can be rekeyed and keyed alike with the rest of a Schlage house.
• The door prep. Same standard bore, same install.

Set them side by side in the same finish and most people cannot tell them apart. Our Schlage page covers the rest of the family, including the keypad-only deadbolts and the Encode Lever.

What does the Encode Plus add?

Two radios’ worth of Apple.

Apple Home Key

Home Key puts a digital key for your door in Apple Wallet. Hold an iPhone or Apple Watch near the keypad and the bolt retracts. No code, no app open, and with Express Mode on, no phone unlock either. Family members get their own key through Apple Home, and you remove a key the same way you remove a code.

In practice this is the feature that changes daily habits. Coming home with hands full, tap the watch. Kids with an Apple Watch never need a code. It is also quiet and quick in a way that typing a code is not.

Thread

Thread is a low-power mesh radio used by Apple Home and other smart home platforms. With a Thread border router in the house, which the HomePod mini, newer HomePods and some Apple TV 4K models include, the Plus has a local link to Apple Home that does not depend on Wi-Fi reaching the front door. You will not see Thread working; you will notice that Home commands are fast and reliable.

That is the whole list. No extra codes, no fingerprint, no bigger bolt. If Home Key and Thread do not matter to you, the Plus is the same lock at a higher price.

Encode vs Encode Plus: side by side

Who benefits from the Plus?

iPhone and Apple Watch households

If every adult and teenager carries an iPhone or Apple Watch, Home Key gets used dozens of times a week. Families in newer homes in Carmel Valley and Scripps Ranch are the typical buyer: standard doors, Apple everything, and a HomePod or Apple TV already in the living room.

Apple Home users

If your lights, thermostat and cameras already live in the Home app, the Plus keeps the lock in the same place with a Thread link that does not care where the router is. Automations like “lock the door when the last person leaves” run from Apple’s side.

People who dislike codes

Some people never warm to typing a code at the door, especially in the rain or in the dark. Home Key makes the lock feel like a modern car door. That is worth paying for if it is you.

Who should buy the standard Encode?

Android households

Home Key does not exist on Android. The Plus works fine from an Android phone through the Schlage Home app, but you are paying for hardware you will never touch. Buy the Encode.

Mixed households where Home Key would serve one person

If only one person carries an iPhone, that person can use the code or the app like everyone else. The math rarely works.

Landlords and hosts

Tenants and guests use codes. Neither wants to be added to your Apple Home. The standard Encode does scheduled and one-time codes, remote checks and activity history, which is what a rental needs. Compare it with the alternatives in Schlage Encode vs Yale Assure Lock 2 vs Kwikset Halo.

Anyone buying on price

The difference between the two typically buys a second keypad lock for the garage entry door, or covers a good part of the install labor. That is often the better use of the money.

Trims and finishes

Both come in the Camelot trim with its traditional arched shape and the squarer Century trim. Finishes overlap almost completely, with satin nickel, matte black and a dark bronze among the common choices; check the current list for the exact trim, because availability by finish changes. Near the coast in La Jolla, a coated finish such as satin nickel or matte black outlasts bright brass, which applies equally to both locks.

Install and rekey: identical

There is no difference at the door. Both fit a standard modern deadbolt prep, both take the same alignment check, both pair the same way and both run on four AA batteries. A locksmith who has installed one has installed the other.

Both rekey the same way too. The Schlage C cylinder behind the keypad comes out and gets pinned to your existing Schlage house key, so the backup key is the one on your ring. That is our keyed-alike work and it happens on install day. The brand-by-brand detail is in Can a Smart Lock Be Rekeyed?

What about price?

The Plus typically sits a tier above the standard Encode at retail, and the gap narrows or widens with sales, so check current listings rather than relying on a number. Labor is the same for both, typically $100 to $250 across the San Diego market depending on the door. Our own rates are on the pricing page.

The other Home Key options

The Encode Plus is not the only tap-to-unlock lock. The Level Lock Pro, which replaced the Level Lock+, hides its electronics inside the door and looks like a plain deadbolt, which associations like, at the cost of having no keypad unless you add Level’s separate keypad. The Yale Assure Lock 2 Plus offers Home Key on a key-free touchscreen, with no keyway at all. If you want a keypad, Wi-Fi and Home Key in the heaviest lock of the three, that is the Encode Plus. Our wider picks are in Best Smart Locks for San Diego Homes.

Next step

Decide on Home Key, then buy the matching Encode. Bring us the lock or let us supply it. Our smart lock installation visit checks the door, fits the lock, pairs it to your Wi-Fi, sets your codes and rekeys the cylinder to your house key, and it is the same visit for either model.