Choosing the right garage door is more important than many homeowners think. Your garage door affects the look of your home, how secure it is, and how easily you can use your garage every day. With so many options available, it can be hard to decide. In this blog, we’ll go over the most popular types of garage doors and the smart features you can add to make life easier.
Types of Garage Doors
Not all garage doors are created equal and deciding on what type of garage door to install can be confusing. Depending on tastes and architectural characteristics, different types of doors can come into play. In this article, we will take a quick look at the most common types of garage doors, and the modern features that come with them;
1- AI Powered Garage Doors
AI-powered garage doors are the latest innovation in smart home technology in 2025. These doors use artificial intelligence to learn your routines and preferences and help you automate daily tasks, improve security, and make access easy. The system connects to your home Wi-Fi and can be controlled through a mobile app, voice assistants, or integrated with your broader smart home system.
Modern AI garage doors come with built-in sensors, cameras, and advanced software that allow them to recognize patterns, detect potential issues, and provide real-time alerts. They can even suggest smart routines like automatically closing the garage if left open after a certain time. You can install AI-powered systems on most modern garage door types, including sectional, rolling, or overhead models, either by upgrading your current opener or installing a brand-new unit.
Advantages:
- Learns your behavior and can automatically open or close the garage door at certain times or when you approach/leave.
- Monitor, open, or close your garage door from anywhere using your smartphone or voice assistant.
- Built-in cameras, motion sensors, and real-time alerts help prevent unauthorized access.
- Works with other smart home devices, such as lighting, thermostats, and security systems.
- Set schedules or actions based on location (geofencing) or time (e.g., close garage every night at 10 PM).
Disadvantages:
- Poor or unstable Wi-Fi can affect system performance or access.
- AI-powered systems are generally more expensive than standard smart openers.
- As with any connected device with cameras and microphones, some users may worry about data security.
- Not all older garage door systems are compatible with AI-powered openers; hardware upgrades may be required.
2- The Rolling Garage Door
The surface of the rolling door consists of slats. To open the door, the slats wrap around a steel shaft above the opening.
You can install rolling doors on small and large garages as well as on double garages. For double garages, however, you should use an electric opener.
Advantages:
- Opening and closing do not require any space in front of the garage.
- The ceiling of the garage remains free and can be used as storage space.
- The metal slats offer good burglary protection.
Downsides:
- Frequent winding and unwinding quickly wear down the materials.
- Opening and closing are relatively noisy.
3- The Overhead Door
The overhead door is mounted on rails and slides under the garage ceiling when opened. It is usually locked with a pump lock. You can open and close it electrically or manually.
Advantages:
- Up-and-over doors are cheap.
- They are easy to mount.
Downside:
- Opening and closing require a lot of space in front of the garage.
- They offer fairly limited burglary protection.
4- The Swing Garage Door
Swing doors with one or two leaves that open outwards are well suited if you want to stand out from the classic “garage look”. Of course, swing gates can be opened manually, but you have an option to install a smart opener.
Advantages:
- They allow more width and height for passage.
Downside:
- They require a lot of space in front of the garage.

5- The Sectional Garage Door
The sectional garage doors open vertically upwards and are suspended under the ceiling -they provide maximum space inside and in front of the garage. Sectional garage doors are the most common garage door installation and can be fitted in every garage door opening, and offer up to 14 cm more passage width than up-and-over doors. They typically have flexible and weather-resistant seals on all four sides to ensure optimum sealing.
Advantages:
- They don't need a lot of room to open and close.
- They are perfect for small driveways.
- Solid construction provides good burglary protection.
Disadvantages:
- They are slightly more expensive than other garage doors.

Garage Door Materials:
Garage doors must be able to withstand many stresses. They must be windproof and weatherproof, resistant to all external influences and of course also to burglary attempts. In addition, no one wants to change their garage door regularly, so it must have a long lifespan. Finally, its appearance should not be neglected either, since the garage door occupies quite a large portion of your home’s façade. The classic materials for garage doors are steel, wood, aluminum, and plastic.
Wooden garage doors are particularly elegant, but wood requires a lot of maintenance to maintain its beautiful appearance. So why not play smart and choose a steel alternative that lasts longer, but has a wooden look? Steel is the standard material for most garage doors because it is strong and durable. The steel can additionally be painted in countless variations based on your home’s color theme.
Plastic garage doors, especially vinyl, are also particularly resistant. However, you should expect a relatively high purchase price if you opt for a vinyl garage door. If you in need of a new garage door installation the Garage Door Pros are here to serve you.
What a smart garage door can do for your?
Have you ever left your house or gone to bed wondering if you closed the garage door? Rolling over or getting out of bed is no fun. If you make your garage door smart, you can close it from anywhere, among other benefits.
Smart garage openers can save you a lot of anxiety. Instead of asking if you remembered to close your garage, you can check from an app or ask a voice assistant, like Google Assistant or Alexa. Combined with a camera, you can even see who's coming and going, which can be especially useful if you're a parent. You can even schedule a daily closing time at the end of the day, so you don't have to worry if you forget to lock the garage door.
Smart garage doors also come with traditional remotes for your car and keypads for outside your garage. Smart functions are just an additional option.
For a smart garage door opener to work well, you need a stable Wi-Fi signal in your garage. And you may need to replace or add hardware.
How To Make Your Existing Door Opener Smart?
If you’re current – not so smart – garage door is working just fine, in good condition and you don’t intend to replace it, you can still make it smart.
If you have a Chamberlain, get Chamberlain's Hub
You may already have a Chamberlain (or LiftMaster, which is owned by Chamberlain) garage door opener, but it's just not Wi-Fi enabled. In that case, you should consider Chamberlain's Wi-Fi-activated Garage Hub. The hub offers one of the least expensive options for adding smart home capabilities to your garage door opener.

You should check your model number against Chamberlain's compatibility tool. As long as you bought it after 1993 and your safety sensors are working, you can probably add the Hub. And if your security sensors aren't working, you should fix them right away.
Chamberlain's Hub effectively transforms your existing garage door opener into one of the company's smart garage door openers. You get the same features and capabilities and access to the Chamberlain myQ app.