Choice Home Warranty vs. American Home Shield: 2025 Comparison

American Home Shield and Choice Home Warranty are two home warranty companies with wide coverage, offering repairs for major home systems and appliances. While American Home Shield will pay more toward certain approved repairs, Choice Home Warranty tends to be more affordable for premiums and service fees.

To compare Choice Home Warranty and American Home Shield, the NerdWallet editorial team requested quotes for different cities through the companies’ websites and read through each company’s sample contracts from top to bottom. We’ve compared pricing, plan coverage, how much the companies pay for repairs, when they won’t pay for repairs, the fine print, states where coverage is available and what other homeowners experienced with each company.

Our take on Choice Home Warranty vs. American Home Shield

Choice Home Warranty and American Home Shield each offer customers a variety of coverage, but which option works best for you depends on several factors.

Choice Home Warranty might be the better option for homeowners who prefer:

• Consistent pricing for simpler budgeting.

• More add-on options with more affordable pricing.

American Home Shield might be the better option for homeowners who prefer:

• More plan options, including a systems-only plan.

• The ability to choose their service fees.

• Higher coverage limits, especially for HVAC and appliance repairs.

Here’s a rundown of how the two companies compare.

» MORE: Best home warranties of 2025

CHW vs. AHS costs

To compare pricing, the NerdWallet editorial team collected quotes for different cities to represent different costs of living. We used these quotes to determine how much each company is likely to charge you for their plans and optional coverage items.

Monthly fees

Choice Home Warranty. You’ll pay the same price as other homeowners who go with Choice Home Warranty, regardless of where you live. The only factor that changes your price is which plan you pick: Tthe Total Plan, which covers a few more items, is more expensive. However, the company only has one service fee option, so you can’t choose how much you pay each time a technician responds to a claim.

American Home Shield. You have to give American Home Shield your address and contact information if you want to see exactly how much you’ll pay for one of its plans. The company prices its plans based on your zip code, which means homeowners in the same city but in different ZIP codes can have quotes that vary by up to $30. Because American Home Shield lets you pick between two service fees, choosing a lower service fee can increase your monthly fee as well.

While Choice Home Warranty allows customers to pay for a year at a time and receive an extra month for free, American Home Shield didn’t offer this option when we tried to check out online.

Optional coverage costs

Both companies. You can get coverage for limited roof leak repairs, pools and spa equipment, well pumps and septic pumps from both Choice and American Home Shield. Both companies charge a monthly fee for each type of item, which means adding optional coverage to your plan will increase your monthly fee.

Choice Home Warranty. The company has a good list of optional items to add to your plan. Because Choice charges homeowners the same price for its plans and optional coverage, you know upfront what you’ll pay without having to enter your address.

American Home Shield. The company offers fewer add-on coverage options than Choice. To get a feel for how much each add-on item costs, our editorial team got quotes for addresses in three states to include areas with the highest, lowest and middle-of-the-range costs of living.

Our research shows that most of American Home Shield’s optional coverage varies in price based on your plan, service fee and zip code. However, coverage for roof leak repair and a septic pump costs the same regardless of where you live.

Service fee

Home warranty companies usually require customers to pay a service fee every time a technician responds to a claim.

Choice Home Warranty. The company charges customers $100 per service call, but advertises that some customers might qualify for a discount that lowers the service fee. You’ll have to call the company to see if you qualify for that sort of discount.

American Home Shield. The company lets customers choose between $100 or $125 service fees when they sign up for their contracts. Customers who choose the higher service fee will pay a lower monthly premium. However, both options are on the higher end of service fees among home warranty companies.

» MORE: How much does a home warranty cost?

CHW vs. AHS Plans

Both companies. You can get a comprehensive plan that covers major home systems and appliances from both, but only American Home Shield has a plan that covers only systems and costs less than its other plans.

Choice Home Warranty. You can choose between two comprehensive plans. The Basic Plan covers heating, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as major kitchen appliances. The Total Plan includes the same items and adds coverage for an air conditioning system, a refrigerator, and a washer and dryer set.

American Home Shield. The company’s lowest plan, ShieldSilver, covers HVAC systems, electrical and plumbing systems and a few items that are often categorized as appliances, such as garage door openers and exhaust fans. The next plan, ShieldGold, adds to that coverage with most major kitchen appliances, including washer and dryers. The top plan, ShieldPlatinum, has the same coverage as ShieldGold but adds limited roof leak repairs and increases the amount the company will pay toward appliance repairs.

» MORE: What does a home warranty cover?

How much CHW and AHS pay for repairs, aka coverage limits

Both companies. Coverage limits with Choice and American Home Shield are comparable to some of their competitors and are likely to cover minor repairs to systems and appliances.

Choice Home Warranty. Choice Home Warranty caps its coverage at $3,000 per item for both plans. This includes paying or reimbursing you up to:

• $3,000 total for heating and air conditioning combined.

• $3,000 for plumbing systems.

• $3,000 for electrical systems.

• $3,000 for each appliance.

American Home Shield. American Home Warranty has different limits for each category of repairs. It’ll pay to up to:

• $5,000 for heating systems and $5,000 for air conditioning systems.

• $2,000 or $4,000 for appliances, depending on the plan.

• No limit for electrical or plumbing repairs (except $500 for a sewage ejector pump).

How long CHW and AHS guarantee their repairs, aka workmanship warranty

Most home warranty companies guarantee repairs that they’ve paid for, which keeps you from paying another service fee if a repair fails and has to be performed again. The length of these repair guarantees vary across home warranty companies.

Choice Home Warranty and American Home Shield both offer a 30-day repair guarantee. So customers with both companies have the same length of coverage before they have to pay another service fee for a failed repair.

When CHW and AHS refuse to make repairs, aka exclusions

Both companies. Most home warranties only cover repairs for normal wear and tear of covered items. So it’s not surprising that Choice Home Warranty and American Home Shield won’t cover:

• Regular maintenance of systems and appliances.

• Physical damage to a covered item.

• Cosmetic repairs that don’t affect a covered item’s functionality.

• Damage resulting from natural disasters, including floods and fires.

• Items that are currently covered by a manufacturer or third-party warranty.

• Items that have a manufacturer or government recall.

Choice Home Warranty also excludes coverage for pre-existing conditions, which means it won’t pay to repair issues that existed before your contract coverage started. American Home Shield has the same exclusion, but it will cover issues caused by mismatched HVAC systems, even if you knew the systems were mismatched before your contract started.

The fine print in CHW and AHS contracts

Both companies. American Home Shield and Choice both state in their contracts that they won’t guarantee that they’ll replace your system or appliance with an identical item. American Home Shield says it might replace your item with a different make, model, color or finish, and Choice Home Warranty says it’s not responsible for upgrading or modifying your covered item if a replacement isn’t compatible with your existing equipment.

An area where American Home Shield comes out ahead is with disposal of an old system or appliance. If the company repairs or replaces a covered item, it agrees to remove it and dispose of it, whenever reasonably possible; American Home Shield includes this service in your coverage but can deduct the cost from your coverage limit for the item. On the other hand, Choice Home Warranty says that a technician can charge you an extra fee to dispose of your old item.

» MORE: Are home warranties worth it?

Where CHW and AHS offer coverage

Methodology

NerdWallet's Home Services team reviews home warranty companies with our readers in mind. We provide unbiased reviews that consider several factors, including cost, covered items, coverage limits, customer ratings, warranty on work completed and more. When rating home warranties, we researched companies, compared terms and conditions in their service agreements and read customer reviews from three consumer review websites. While NerdWallet does have partnerships with some home warranty companies, our editorial team is uninvolved in that process to ensure unbiased reviews and recommendations. Read more about how NerdWallet rates home warranties.