Permanent Christmas Light Brands, Compared on Price and Warranty
Installed prices for the four national permanent lighting brands cluster between $18 and $35 per linear foot, which on a typical street-facing roofline works out to roughly $2,000 to $6,000. The spread inside that range says less about the diodes than about who is holding the ladder. The more useful separator is disclosure: Trimlight and JellyFish publish a price range on their own websites, EverLights publishes flat prices for its DIY kits, and Gemstone Lights publishes no number at all.
- Published range, installed
- $18–$35 per linear foot
- Typical street-facing home
- $2,000–$6,000
- Brands that publish a price
- 3 of 4
- Controller, where disclosed
- $650–$850 (JellyFish)
| Brand | Published installed price | Who published it | Warranty as published |
|---|---|---|---|
| JellyFish Lighting | $25–$35 / ft; $3,000–$6,000 typical, ~$4,600 average | The manufacturer, on its own blog | Not stated in text on the public FAQ |
| Trimlight | $18–$35 / ft; $2,000–$6,000 typical | The manufacturer, on its own pricing guide | Lifetime product warranty, with conditions |
| Gemstone Lights | No figure published | Not published; the FAQ defers to the local dealer | Not published alongside price |
| EverLights | DIY kits $750–$2,700 flat; installed price quoted, not published | The manufacturer, for kits only | Not published alongside price |
Why the per-foot number is the only one worth comparing
Every one of these systems is sold by the linear foot of channel mounted on your house, so a total price means nothing until you know the footage behind it. A $3,200 quote on 110 feet and a $3,200 quote on 190 feet are not the same offer, and the second one is either a better deal or a thinner build. Ask every bidder for two numbers: the linear feet they measured and the rate they applied. If a quote arrives without the footage on it, that is the first thing to send back.
The footage itself is a choice, not a fact. Front elevation only is the cheapest honest scope and the one most published averages assume. Adding gables, a second story, a detached garage or the back of the house can move a job by a third without anyone quoting a different rate. When you compare two bids, confirm they drew the same line around the house before you conclude one is expensive.
What the per-foot rate usually leaves out
The controller is the most common omission. JellyFish is the only brand of the four to publish the number, and puts its controller and power supply at $650 to $850, with one controller driving up to 263 feet of lights. That threshold matters more than the price: a house that measures 270 feet needs a second power supply, and the cost curve steps rather than slopes. If your measurement lands near a multiple of that limit, ask what happens on either side of it.
The other omissions are electrical and structural. Somebody has to bring power to the run, and whether that is an existing exterior outlet or a new circuit pulled by an electrician is a real difference in the invoice. Fascia in poor condition may need repair before channel is fastened to it. Neither is a hidden fee if it is written down in advance, which is why it belongs on the quote rather than in the conversation.
Warranty is where the brands actually diverge
Trimlight publishes the most specific terms of the four: a lifetime product warranty on components rated to a 50,000 hour lifespan, covering material defects in bulbs, light strings, diodes and the finish on the aluminum. The conditions are equally specific and are the part worth reading. The warranty is issued to the original purchaser and is explicitly non-transferable, so it does not follow the house to a buyer. It also requires registration within 30 days of installation, and Trimlight's own guidance is that an incomplete or missing registration can delay or invalidate a later claim.
JellyFish's public FAQ lists “What is the warranty?” as a question but does not render the answer as text on the page, and the terms quoted by dealers vary. That is not an accusation, it is a reason to get the number in writing on your own quote rather than from a comparison article. Gemstone and EverLights likewise do not publish warranty terms next to price. For all four, the sentence to insist on is the one separating parts from labor: a long parts warranty with one year of labor still means you pay someone to climb a ladder in year three.
The question none of the brand pages answer: who comes back
A permanent system is a fifteen-year relationship with whoever installed it, and every one of these brands is installed by an independent local dealer, not by the manufacturer. The warranty is written by the brand; the ladder belongs to the dealer. When a diode fails in year four, the brand does not drive to your house.
So the diligence that pays is local, not national. How long has this specific crew been installing this specific system. Do they carry their own labor warranty in writing, and for how long. What is the callback window in December, when everyone wants service in the same three weeks. Are they insured for work at height on your roofline. These questions sort bidders far more reliably than the two-dollar difference in a per-foot rate.
Where a brand-agnostic installer fits
Our crews install architectural-grade channel systems and we are not a dealer for any of the four brands above, which means we have nothing to defend when the honest answer is that one of them suits your house better. If you want a specific brand because a neighbor has it and you like how it looks, that is a good reason and their dealer is the right call. If what you actually want is the result, meaning addressable diodes hidden under the drip edge, app control, any color on any schedule, and a crew that answers in December, then the brand on the box is the least important variable in the decision.
Either way, take three quotes and make each one show its footage, its rate, its controller count, its electrical assumption, and its labor warranty in years. That single page of comparison is worth more than any brand ranking, this one included.
Common questions
Which permanent Christmas light brand is cheapest?
On published figures, Trimlight starts lowest at $18 per linear foot and JellyFish starts at $25, but the ranges overlap so heavily at the top end that the brand is a weaker predictor of your price than your roofline and your local dealer. Gemstone publishes no figure at all, and the dealer rates that are public sit around $20 to $26 per foot. Treat the brand as a shortlist, not an answer, and let three real quotes on your actual footage decide it.
Do any of them publish a real price, or is it all “call for a quote”?
Three of the four publish something. Trimlight publishes an installed range on its own pricing guide, JellyFish publishes both a per-foot range and a typical project total on its blog, and EverLights publishes flat prices for its DIY kits. Gemstone Lights' own FAQ states only that cost is determined by linear feet and the local market rate, and directs you to a dealer. That is a legitimate way to sell a dealer-installed product, but it does mean you cannot budget from their website.
Is a permanent system actually cheaper than hiring installers every year?
It depends entirely on what you pay now and how long you stay. JellyFish frames the comparison against seasonal installers at $1,000 or more per year, which at a $4,600 average system is roughly a five-year break-even. If your seasonal install runs a few hundred dollars for a modest front elevation, the math stretches well past a decade and the honest reason to buy becomes the year-round use and the end of ladder days, not payback. Run it with your own numbers before anyone runs it for you.
Does the warranty transfer if I sell the house?
For Trimlight, no. Its published terms state the warranty is issued to the original purchaser and is non-transferable, so the system stays with the house but the coverage does not. The other three do not publish transferability terms next to price. If you expect to move inside ten years, ask for the answer in writing, because a permanent system is a fixture you cannot take with you.
Sources
Every figure above is attributed. These are the pages the numbers came from, checked on the dates shown.
- JellyFish Lighting, “How much do permanent Christmas lights cost?” (updated September 4, 2026)
- Trimlight, “How Much Does Trimlight Cost? Full Pricing Guide for 2026”
- Trimlight, Lifetime Product Warranty (official terms)
- Gemstone Lights, “How Much do Gemstone Lights Cost?” (official FAQ)
- NGLS Corp, authorized Gemstone dealer for Utah and Nevada (published rate)
- MyEverLights, “EverLights Cost: Breaking Down the Price”
- JellyFish Lighting, official FAQ