Best Safe for Cash at Home – 6 Picks for Burglars, Fire and Hiding

Best safe for cash at home – the short answer

Choose a cash safe by the threat you fear, then bolt it down or set it in concrete. My six picks, by job:

• Best overall: SentrySafe SFW123GDC, UL Classified for 1 hour at up to 1,700°F, 1.23 cubic feet.
• Best budget: Amazon Basics Steel Home Security Electronic Safe, theft only, no fire claim.
• Best hidden: Hollon B2500, a B-rate floor safe with about 0.9 cubic feet inside.
• Best large hidden: Hollon B3500, the same build with about 2.85 cubic feet.
• Best with alerts: Vaultek MX, app alerts if someone moves or opens it.
• Best small: Viking Security Safe VS-20BLX, fingerprint access for a small stash.

The best safes for cash at home, reviewed

Each cash safe below answers a different threat: fire, a quick grab, a determined burglar or a nosy housemate. Specs come from each maker’s page or the Amazon listing; owner notes come from retailer reviews and forum threads we read.

SentrySafe SFW123GDC: Best overall cash safe

3.6Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)6/10
• Fire protection8/10
• Access (speed and ease)8/10
• Capacity7/10
• Value8/10

I scored fire high for the UL label that covers paper money, and security mid-range because there is no burglary rating; bolting it down is what makes it a cash safe.

How we score

Check price on Amazon

What owners and reviewers say review themes from 1,991 owner reviews, plus 16 posts and reviews we read

Praised for

• Room for folders and bundles, with a useful locking drawer
• Easy to program a code, and the interior light helps

Common complaints

• Several Walmart reviewers received a dented or damaged safe
• A few owners on SentrySafe's page report trouble opening it with the code or key

Read on: Walmart customer reviews: SentrySafe SFW123GDC (767 reviews) · SentrySafe.com customer reviews: SFW123GDC (1,224 reviews)

Who it's for: Households keeping an emergency cash fund next to passports and deeds; it has no burglary rating and weighs about 87 lb, so bolt it down and plan who carries it in.

I put this safe first because its fire label comes from an outside lab. SentrySafe says it is UL Classified to protect contents for 1 hour at up to 1,700°F, and Intertek’s ETL mark covers 24 hours in 8 inches of water, so the cash survives the fire and the hoses that follow. Four 1-inch live-locking bolts, a pry-resistant hinge bar and bolt-down hardware give it entry-level theft resistance.

Inside are 1.23 cubic feet (13.8 x 12.6 x 11.9 in), a locking drawer for the bundles you touch often and an interior light. The keypad takes a 5-digit code, and a secondary key backs it up. At 86.69 lb it takes two people to place, which also slows a thief, but only bolts stop one.

Walmart reviewers like the drawer and the room. Several received a dented safe, and a few owners on SentrySafe’s site report trouble opening it with the code or key, so inspect it on delivery and keep the key outside. The SentrySafe SFW123GDC has no burglary rating.

Amazon Basics Steel Home Security Electronic Safe: Best budget cash safe

3.3Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)5/10
• Access (speed and ease)7/10
• Capacity7/10
• Value9/10

No fire claim, so I left fire out. A thick door for the class and 2 live bolts earn a 5 for security, held back by a 29 lb body that has to be bolted down; value is the strongest point.

How we score

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What owners and reviewers say from 2 reviews and posts we read

Praised for

• Keeps kids and casual snoops out for little money
• Easy keypad programming with a quiet-mode option

Common complaints

• Door rubs on the frame and is noisy when opened
• Not high security; owners stress bolting it down

Read on: Top Firearm Reviews: Amazon Basics owner notes · r/carverscave: Amazon Basics Steel Safe Review

Who it's for: Anyone keeping household cash away from kids, guests and casual thieves; it only works as theft protection once bolted down, and paper inside has no fire protection.

When fire is not the worry, this is the safe I’d start with. The listing gives an 8-gauge steel door, a 14-gauge body, 2 live door bolts and concealed pry-resistant hinges. Steel gauge runs backwards, so the door is the thicker part. A programmable keypad opens it, with a backup key for dead batteries.

The interior measures 12.83 x 10.35 x 14 inches with a shelf, and the whole safe weighs 29.3 lb. That weight is the catch: one person can carry it out under an arm. The pre-drilled holes and included hardware are the reason it earns a spot, so use them; our guide on how to bolt down a safe covers wood floors and slabs.

An owner write-up mentions a door that rubs and only three of four anchor bolts in the box, and a Reddit owner calls it fine against casual snoops, not a determined thief. There is no fire or water rating, so paper money inside is unprotected in a fire. The Amazon Basics electronic safe suits a budget, theft-only plan.

Hollon B2500: Best hidden cash safe

3.0Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)8/10
• Fire protection3/10
• Access (speed and ease)5/10
• Capacity5/10
• Value8/10

I rate security high because concrete does the anchoring and the hiding, keep fire at 3 with no published rating, and capacity at 5 since 0.9 cubic feet still holds a large cash stack.

How we score

Check price on Amazon

What owners and reviewers say review themes from 3 owner reviews, plus 1 posts and reviews we read

Praised for

• Well built for its cost, easy to install, hides well under carpet
• Smooth dial and a gas strut that holds the door open

Common complaints

• The reviewer found little owner information to go on before buying

Read on: Dean Safe reviews on Judge.me: Hollon B2500 (3 reviews)

Who it's for: Homeowners on a concrete slab who keep a serious cash stash; renters and upper floors can't use it, and it has no fire rating.

The B2500 hides instead of fighting. Hollon builds it to be cast into a concrete foundation and covered with a rug, so a burglar first has to find it, then face a 1/2 inch solid steel door, five steel bolts, a full-length dead bar and a drill-resistant hard plate. The UL-listed Group 2 dial with an external relocker needs no batteries, which I like for money you may not touch for months, and it is why I also rate it among the safes for gold and silver bullion.

Inside it measures 12.9 x 10.9 x 11.3 inches, about 0.9 cubic feet. That sounds small, but for cash it is plenty: as I show further down, a strap of 100 notes is under half an inch thick. A Dean Safe reviewer called it well built for the cost, easy to install and extremely stout once cased in concrete, and liked the gas strut that holds the door open.

The limits: B-rate is a construction class, not a lab attack test, and there is no fire rating. A slab can be damp, so I’d bag the cash. The Hollon B2500 only works if you can cut your floor.

Hollon B3500: Best large hidden safe

3.1Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)8/10
• Fire protection3/10
• Access (speed and ease)5/10
• Capacity7/10
• Value7/10

I gave it the B2500's security score since the build is the same, more capacity for about triple the room, and the same low fire score because Hollon publishes no fire rating.

How we score

Check price on Amazon

What owners and reviewers say review themes from 3 owner reviews, plus 1 posts and reviews we read

Praised for

• The series review on the B3500 page calls the build stout once cased in concrete

Common complaints

• Owner reviews of this size are scarce; the only detailed one on the page was written about the B2500

Read on: Dean Safe: Hollon B3500 Floor Safe (3 reviews)

Who it's for: Homeowners on a slab who want room for cash, bagged documents and jewelry out of sight; it needs a larger concrete cut and has no fire rating.

If the stash shares space with deeds, passports and a watch box, this is the size I’d look at; for watches alone, see our safes for watches and jewelry. The B3500 uses the B2500’s 1/2 inch door, five bolts, dead bar, hard plate and Group 2 dial, with an interior of 16.5 x 13 x 23 inches, about 2.85 cubic feet.

The trade-off is the hole. The body is 18 x 13.5 x 23.5 inches and weighs 140 lb before the concrete, so most homeowners hire a contractor. Like its smaller sibling it has no fire rating, and the same damp-slab advice applies: sealed bags or a plastic tub inside.

Owner feedback on this exact size is thin. Dean Safe’s B3500 page shows the series’ reviews, and the one detailed review there was written about the B2500, praising the build once cased in concrete. I still pick the Hollon B3500 for anyone hiding more than cash, as long as the slab can be cut. Our coin collection safe guide covers floor safes for metals too.

Vaultek MX: Best cash safe with alerts

3.0Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)5/10
• Access (speed and ease)9/10
• Capacity4/10
• Value6/10

No fire claim, so I left fire out. Thicker steel than most keypad boxes and live alerts lift security to 5; access is the strength, capacity the weak point.

How we score

Check price on Amazon

What owners and reviewers say review themes from 318 owner reviews, plus 6 posts and reviews we read

Praised for

• Fast access, bright keypad and an interior light
• Vaultek replaced one owner's faulty safe quickly

Common complaints

• Wi-Fi connection drops, even after updates
• Fingerprint reads are hit and miss for some owners; one door opened on its own

Read on: Vaultek: MX Series customer reviews (318 reviews) · r/CCW: Vaultek MX opened on its own · r/CCW: vaultek? · r/CTguns: Opinions on Vaultek MX or RS series safes? · Top Firearm Reviews: Vaultek MX owner notes

Who it's for: Renters and shared households who want alerts and fast access to cash, passports and a handgun; it makes no fire claim and needs plug-in power with AAA backup.

Not every cash loss is a break-in; in a shared home, money can thin out a bill at a time. The MX is my pick when you want to know who opens the safe and when. Vaultek’s app sends live alerts, and its motion tracking can sound an alarm if it detects an impact. Vaultek also lists cash and passports among what it holds.

Access is the strength: an 80-print fingerprint reader, a backlit keypad, a Nano Key fob and two manual keys. The body is 14-gauge steel with a 12-gauge door, interior hinges and anti-pry construction. It weighs 32 lb, measures 13 x 8.6 x 11 inches inside, ships with mounting hardware, and Vaultek lists it as California DOJ certified for those who also store a handgun.

Owners split. One on Vaultek’s site has constant Wi-Fi drops; on Reddit, one says the fingerprint reader is unreliable for him, and another’s door opened on its own until Vaultek replaced the safe. It needs plug-in power with AAA backup and makes no fire claim. The Vaultek MX suits renters who can’t cut a slab.

Viking Security Safe VS-20BLX: Best small cash safe

2.7Best Safe Spec Score out of 5

• Security (lock and build)4/10
• Access (speed and ease)9/10
• Capacity3/10
• Value6/10

No fire claim, so I left fire out. Fingerprint, PIN and key make access fast, but thin steel and an 18 lb body hold security at 4.

How we score

Check price on Amazon

What owners and reviewers say review themes from 5 owner reviews, plus 5 posts and reviews we read

Praised for

• Fingerprint and code both open it reliably, per two reviewers
• Feels like a hotel-style safe for less money

Common complaints

• One reviewer had locking bolts that would not fully retract
• Battery change means removing the LED unit with a screwdriver

Read on: Walmart customer reviews: Viking VS-20BLX (5 reviews)

Who it's for: Someone keeping a few hundred to a few thousand in a closet or desk; the 2 mm body is thin, so bolt it down and don't treat it as burglar-proof.

For a few hundred to a few thousand dollars you reach for weekly, I like this small box. It opens by fingerprint (up to 32 stored), a 4-8 digit PIN or one of two override keys, and Viking says the prints stay in memory if the batteries come out. A motorized deadbolt, an interior LED and a carpeted floor round it out.

It is 8 x 12 x 8 inches outside and 18 lb, small enough for a closet shelf, and 4 anchor bolts come in the box. The steel is the weak point for me: Viking lists a 5 mm door and a 2 mm body, thin for anything you’d hate to lose, and the maker says it is not fireproof.

Walmart reviewers say the fingerprint and code both open it reliably. One had locking bolts that would not fully retract, and changing batteries means removing the LED unit with a screwdriver. The Viking VS-20BLX suits a small, often-used stash, bolted down.

Cash safe comparison

The table below compares the six cash safes on the protection that decides where your money goes. Each fire rating names who stands behind it.

How we picked these cash safes

We listed the safes that the top-ranking pages for this search and its close variants recommend, kept models named by at least two of them, then kept only those with their own in-stock Amazon US listing. Business Insider, CNN Underscored and Bob Vila name the SentrySafe, and two of them also name the Amazon Basics safe and the Viking; Top Firearm Reviews and a Facebook stackers’ thread name the Vaultek MX; The Safe Keeper’s money safes and NationwideSafes.com carry the Hollon floor safes.

We have not used these safes ourselves. Our facts come from maker spec pages and the Amazon listing, plus 31 owner reviews and posts we read. Before you buy a safe for cash, my safe buying checklist helps you size it to the bills and envelopes you keep.

From our notes: A strap of hundred-dollar notes kept bothering us while we sized these safes. At 0.0043 inches a note, 100 notes stack to about 0.43 inches, roughly 6.9 cubic inches per strap. We ran it against the Viking’s 7.8-inch interior height and got 18 straps in a single column. That one calculation reshuffled the list: interior size barely matters for cash, so we ranked on fire labels, steel and anchoring instead.

Fire or burglar – what a cash safe has to stop

Banknotes burn like paper and walk out like jewelry, so a cash safe needs a fire label, anchoring, or both. In FBI figures for 2019, the average burglary cost victims 2,661 dollars, and 62.8 percent of burglaries hit homes.

Fire is the quieter risk. UL’s Class 350 test keeps a safe’s interior under 350°F, and paper typically starts to ignite around 450° F, so that rating covers cash. Only the SentrySafe in our list carries one; the other five make no fire claim. One publisher’s hands-on attacks show the theft side: about 30 minutes to breach the SFW123GDC, 5 for the Viking and 3 for a smaller Amazon Basics sibling, which is why I insist on anchoring. The video below, from safe dealer Northwest Safe, explains how to choose a home safe for cash and jewelry by construction, fire protection and burglary resistance.

How much cash fits in a safe

Almost any safe holds more cash than you’ll keep, so don’t pay for cubic feet. A banknote is 2.61 x 6.14 inches and .0043 inches thick, so a 100-note strap is about 6.9 cubic inches. A strap of twenties is 2,000 dollars; of hundreds, 10,000 dollars. Lying flat, four straps fit side by side across the Viking’s floor, and 18 stack to its ceiling. Bigger interiors only matter when deeds, passports or jewelry share the space, or when the safe also serves a small business office.

Which cash safe fits your home

Pick by your floor and your biggest fear, using the rule I’d use myself:

• Fire and casual theft, any floor: SentrySafe SFW123GDC, bolted down.
• Theft only, small budget: Amazon Basics, bolted into a floor joist or slab.
• Burglar-first, house on a slab you can cut: Hollon B2500 for cash alone, B3500 if papers and jewelry join it.
• Renter, or cash going missing at home: Vaultek MX for alerts, bolted where your lease allows.
• A small stash you open weekly: Viking VS-20BLX on a closet shelf, anchored.

Want fire and burglar protection together? Put a small fire-rated box inside a floor safe, or step up to a dealer-sold safe with both ratings.

Cash safe problems owners run into, and the fix

The same problems repeat in owners’ threads we read, and each has a plain fix.

• The whole safe gets carried off. Owners in safe threads repeat one warning: a safe burglars can walk off with protects nothing. Every pick here ships with anchors or sits in concrete; use them.
• Light safes feel flimsy. On r/homedefense, budget safes are described as “not really fireproof, but if you bolt them down they are reasonably secure against most casual theft attempts.” That is the honest job of the Amazon Basics and Viking.
• Doubts about “fireproof.” An r/homeowners thread on fire boxes makes the point that nothing is truly fireproof, only fire resistant. True, which is why I only count a fire rating with a named lab and a time, like the SentrySafe’s UL label.
• Mold on paper inside. A Collectors Universe member warns that “Fireproof safes are notorious for holding moisture.” Keep notes in a zip bag with a rechargeable desiccant, and open the safe now and then.
• Dead batteries, locked out. One forum owner changes his keypad battery every 6 months whether it is needed or not. Keep the backup key outside the safe; our Sentry Safe battery replacement steps help SentrySafe owners.

Our verdict on the best safe for cash at home

For most homes, the SentrySafe SFW123GDC bolted down is the best safe for cash at home; for a burglar-first setup on a slab, choose the Hollon B2500 or B3500. Back to that coffee can: the SentrySafe answers the fire, concrete answers the thief. If jewelry and documents share the space, compare our best home safe picks before you order.