ButterflyMX Reviews 

I live in a 77 unit condo building. Butterfly just installed. Anytime you or a trusted visitor enters, it takes a photo of you or your visitor and a link to you. It keeps this photo and info for a year. Management can see this even without your permission.

I asked Butterfly to stop this for my unit. They said they, or my management, cannot stop this.

If you like having what is a Flock surveillance camera for your building management this is for you but definitely not cool.

Our small Harlem condo board installed a ButterflyMX panel in late April 2026. It failed in mid-August, less than four months later. The Wi-Fi radio stopped associating and never came back. We ruled out every network and environmental cause on our end; it was simply dead hardware.

The building had no intercom for close to a month. No one could be buzzed in. Deliveries did not arrive, including medication.

Credit where it is due: ButterflyMX replaced the panel under warranty, covered the installation
labor, and our client success manager stayed responsive throughout. But we paid out of pocket to run Ethernet to the panel, which was only necessary because the Wi-Fi installation they sold us did not hold up. And when we asked for a credit on the annual service fee covering the month we had no service at all, they declined. The subscription billed in full for a month in which the product did not work.

If you are a board member or property manager evaluating ButterflyMX: budget a hardwired run from day one, and understand that the service fee keeps running whether or not the hardware does.

Our door has been down for 3 months and its still not fixed. Do not rely on this company. Is unacceptable for how much it costs

OPT-OUT is not the same as OPT-IN. ButterflyMX, cease the false advertising claiming to be an opt-in application that complies with California privacy law.

The ButterflyMX system stored and displayed my name, my personal email, and my legal name, which were stolen by the board and its vendor. I was added to your system against my explicit, signed instructions. Consequently, I receive unsolicited emails and nuisance calls.

As a California resident, I am entitled to have my account and all associated data immediately deleted, and to be informed once this action has been completed.

Great when it works, but it went down Friday evening. Neither fobs nor the app worked. The worst part was that Butterfly said they couldn't fix the problem until Monday! So residents were stuck out of the building all weekend. We had to duct tape doors open. It is Tuesday and the service is still spotty.

The QR code scanning is terrible and doesn’t work at all at night. Spending a minute trying to get the camera to scan is maddening, craning your arm out the car window in all contorted positions to block the sun or get the camera to focus just right and waiting for the magic scanned ring but never happening. Why didn’t the system installers test the system in all the different day parts and putting in a ticket to repair is useless. You get an offshore service that asks you to take a picture of the scene!? I’m using my phone bro to gain access! Very poor experience from me.

My building has used the Butterfly intercom for a few years and it's been a great experience. My friends regularly use it to enter the building, and the directory functionality is intuitive enough that I've never had to explain to anyone how to use it. When I'm cooking dinner for a group, it's especially nice to let people in remotely without interrupting the cooking process. I'd recommend Butterfly to others who are looking for a straightforward, delightful building intercom system.

They can't even program the intercom with the right number and then you try and have them correct it and they can't. And the person whose number is linked to my unit number doesn't speak English, so I can't even get from the person what number they have.

Avoid at all costs. They insist on removing the intercom system, so there's no way for residents to know if a visitor is at the door unless they check a cell phone or tablet app.

Our apartment complex was looking to install additional CCTV security cameras. We already have a recently-installed two-way audio/video intercom system with in-apartment units that all have a buzzer, speaker, and high quality video screen. When someone outside rings the bell the indoor unit buzzes and the screen lights up showing a video feed of the visitor outside. The resident and visitor can speak to one another and the resident can unlock the door from the wall-mounted in-apartment unit. The system works perfectly with no drawbacks. It's always-on, doesn't require any subscription, cell phone app, or anything like that at all. It just works 24/7.

Our management were mainly interested in security cameras. But the people at Butterfly MX said they'd provide a discount on the security cameras if our management removes our current, far superior, professionally-installed intercom system and replaces it with a Butterfly MX unit.

But the Butterfly MX system only consists of an outdoor unit. There's no in-apartment hardware. Not even a buzzer. The only way to know if someone is at the door outside is for residents to check a cell phone/tablet app or have the system wired to a landline (which obviously wouldn't have any video). Not only that, but the Butterfly MX unit requires a subscription and Internet connection.

With our current system I could be in the bedroom, not expecting any visitors. But let's say there's an unexpected delivery for me. The delivery person can press the button on the outdoor unit and my indoor unit buzzes and lights up, letting me know someone needs to get in. I'm immediately alerted to this and can let them in before they get sick of waiting and leave a "Sorry we missed you" notice.

Now imagine the same delivery scenario with Butterfly MX. I would have no idea someone was outside unless I had already turned on my mobile device, opened the Butterfly MX app, and diligently paid attention to it all day until the person eventually arrived. But without any indoor buzzer, even if I knew they were coming there's a good chance I would miss them anyway since by the time I check the app they may have already gotten tired of waiting and left. Now imagine this for every single delivery and visitor. Just think of all the times somebody rang your doorbell without you knowing in advance it was about to happen. With a normal intercom or even just a doorbell, it's no problem because there's sound/audio/video to let you know someone's there. But if you had Butterfly MX instead you would have missed every single one of those visitors because you had no way of knowing they were there unless you just so happened to have the app opened at the time.

Yes, they do offer the option to have your landline phone ring when someone is at the door instead. But this is a huge downgrade compared to what we already have. One of the main reasons we upgraded from an audio-only intercom system to our current audio/video system is for additional security. With audio-only intercoms there's the possibility for an impostor with bad intentions to ring the bell and when the resident answers and says, "Who is it?" the impostor lies and says, "UPS" or "Fedex" as a ploy to get inside. With video you can actually see the person so you can tell if they have a uniform, if they're holding a package, etc... You can make a better judgment about whether to let them in or not when you're able to see them.

Finally, not everybody has a landline phone or cell phone. But even for those who do and don't mind the jerry-rigged solution of having to use a cellphone app to open the door, you can bet the app won't be supported indefinitely. These types of devices that rely on an app to work are notorious for having app support discontinued, leaving the hardware useless. Then you're left completely in the lurch because the intercom system that worked perfectly without the need for any app was needlessly removed by Butterfly MX.

Butterfly MX are highly unethical for pressuring our management -- who only wanted CCTV security cameras in the first place -- to remove our 24/7, always-on, audio/video intercom system with something more expensive, less secure, and far less functional. Shame on Butterfly MX.

UPDATE: I just got this email. They're trying mark negative reviews as non-genuine:
Hi Ron,
You’ve written a review for ButterflyMX, and they’ve asked for more details to better understand your experience.

If you provide some extra information within 3 days, it’ll help them recognize your experience and respond.

If we don’t hear from you, the company may not be able to recognize your review as genuine.

So as a mgmt company, we do a lot of these Butterfly MX installations due to the popularity in NYC, but I have noticed three things about the system which drives me nuts. One side technical and One side is their Billing and support.

1. Their system seems to be two seperate systems within the Ecosystem of one Device. Its a intercom and access control system and the two may not be in sync or working at times. Your Intercom Panel can say the door is locked, while the Access control can do something different like keep the door open. This is due to the way the hardware works internally. This is a a backwards way of building hardware and seems to be part of a older technology they are using. Many installers have confirmed this with me, and makes the device requiring support should a power failure happen and programming is off etc. If you have a large environment with multiple doors, you require additional door controllers and the problems becomes a bigger issue with syncing.

2. The hardware does not last. We have had to replace devices after two and three years due to hardware failure. This is out of warranty time frame and this seems to be consistent.

3. The billing team and back office is terrible. You can tell them over and over how to submit invoices, how to bill (Name etc) and they do it one year and not the next, and I am not sure why. This is frustrating as this takes time every year to correct.

They have had turnover such as senior techs I knew at the help desk who have left, and also the initial tech support when you first call seems to be very low level tech with wanting to reach back to you after they speak to someone with a phone call. All while the system may be down.

Emily is amazing. We love the Butterfly System. Thank you for your patience.

This is nothing but a way for landlords to spy on tenants and it is absolute garbage. They can't fix any problem because they try to insist it is you not them. No delivery person uses it anyway, they are not going to ring 10 bells in apt buildings. In the meantime, you are standing there waving your phone all over as you hold packages, trying to get in. Half the time the touchscreen does not work when it is cold. It is marketed on their website as a way to spy on tenants and find out if they have roomates or frequent visitors.

Shady company which does not respond to emails with concerns about their security and privacy practices. This type of behavior is very odd and alarming for a company which deals in protecting access to residences. In the business of trust, ButterflyMX is clearly not a competent contender.

Amazing experience so far. We worked with Lance to set everything up, install going in tomorrow. We are excited to have a nice organized setup for our tenants

I'm a property manager for several apartment communities, and I cannot say enough good things about the remarkable service provided by Butterfly - specifically Lance Tamayo. I've always received prompt and courteous assistance from Lance, he is a pleasure to work with

Are you kidding me ?
I've been in security 30 years to know a system that is absolutely not for a gatehouse. It is for a condo or office not for a gatehouse. You my friends sold all these people a system forced to work as a gatehouse solution for profit only .
It is indeed the dumbest system out there right now . How many steps does an officer have to take to log in toooo many . If there's a line your fked over ..you rip off artists need to get a clue
Everything needed for a gatehouse is not there ..

Both the app and the hardware are consistently unreliable. The intercom glitches, the touch screen freezes, and the audio quality is terrible. The app isn’t any better—notifications don’t always come through, calls drop, and the door sometimes won’t open at all. For something as important as building access, this should work every time, not just occasionally. Very frustrating experience.

When our company took over managing our property, we needed a lot of help reconfiguring the access points with each building. Lance was a lot of help! He walked me through everything so that I could understand, showed me features I was unfamiliar with, and made sure our residents had the access they needed - which makes my job a lot easier. I really appreciate the time & communication we received!

Would definitely recommend! ButterflyMX is a major improvement to traditional door intercoms.

Needed support with segmenting our residents between panels and Lance Tamayo was able to get this done quickly for us and made sure that it should not be an issue moving forward. ButterflyMX has always been a much loved amenity with our residents. Thanks!