Are you looking for brand recommendations or style recommendations or both? If the latter, we need to see pictures of your exterior.

As for brands, much will depend on your price point and whether you want solid core or not. Most of the big window brands like Anderson and Marvin also have doors. You can also look at Therma Tru.

We have replaced ALL the exterior doors in our house (built in 1964) over the last 7 years.

Initially impressed with Therma Tru (about 7 years ago), but special ordered one 3 years ago that was total junk. Sent it back & the one they sent as a replacement was even worse.

(We were told that it depends on which distribution center manufactures it.)

Changed to Bayer Built (a regional dealer located in Minnesota).

Special order door pre-Covid - took about one month - great door & great price!

Last spring - special order Bayer Built door - delivery took over 4 months; door components (by Masonite - same as previous one); had a lot of cuts and knicks. Overall door quality still decent (insulation & sealing properties); cost has more than doubled.

We went to lumber yards that had full size displays and working door units. IMO, the Provia door was not any better than the Bayer Built, and was almost double the price of the BB door.

HMI, Provia, Homeguard and Albany are brands to look at and get out of the Box Stores.

IMO we need more info. What style for sure , where do you live ? How do you think we can help with no info.Post a pic of the house and where this door is going. Post the pic here in a comment and also answers to questions.

Doors can be a tricky product as its hard at times to tell the difference between an excellent product and a terrible one without knowing what you are looking at. I'll say this, doors are one of the more important items to get a quality product, as they tend to have more service issues than windows and other items. You won't go wrong by paying a little more than you want to for a higher end door, but you can certainly get yourself in trouble by going with what seems like a great deal.

As far as brands, Thermatru is decent but can be hit or miss depending on which company is doing the finish and assembly (they don't do that in house). Provia, Homegaurd, and HMI are very good and worth checking out. As MWM alluded to, I'd get out of the box stores and talk to a window and door installation company, or at least a lumber yard/builder supply house. You'll typcially find better products along with more qualified people to help you.

I live in the Midwest (cold winters). I'll try to post a photo of the front of the house within the next few days. Thanks go all who responded.

The current door on the home is original and steel. The reason I want to replace it is that without lights in the door or sidelites, the foyer is very dark. When the weather is warm, I open the front door (there is a storm door) just to let light into the home.

You can get Waudena doors at some Home Depot’s.

IMO, I would not do a special order of any kind from Home Depot. If there are ANY issues, they take forever to respond, or not at all.

I did go to a local door and window store in my area that was highly rated on-line. They had very nice doors. I saw one in the showroom I liked but the salesman said it was $3k-4k.

When I explained what I wanted, I was told the more glass you add, the more expensive it is. Their most inexpensive line with a small window at the top would probably cost $2k but that includes hardware and installation and they said they would completely remove the frame, touch up paint, etc.

In Home Depot, as I stated, I saw a Jeld-Wen door I liked for about $1200 (hardware and installation was extra) but the salesperson said 70% of the Jeld-Wen doors they get in have issues.

The Therma-Tru doors I saw in Home Depot were a much better quality than Jeld-Wen. The prices were variable depending on style, amount of glass added, etc.

We have a contractor coming out next week to do a small project for us. I'll ask him what type of door he recommends and report back on what he says.

Again, if I had to use TT, there is a zero chance of my purchasing it from a HD or Lowes.

OP asked, "Any recommendations for an exterior front door?"

@millworkman responded: "HMI, Provia, Homeguard and Albany are brands to look at and get out of the Box Stores."

@HomeSealed Exteriors, LLC responded: "Provia, Homegaurd, and HMI are very good and worth checking out. As MWM alluded to, I'd get out of the box stores and talk to a window and door installation company, or at least a lumber yard/builder supply house. You'll typcially find better products along with more qualified people to help you."

Your follow-up 9 days later is still about Jeld-Wen, Therma-Tru, and Home Depot. I.e. nothing has changed from your OP. Not sure what else can be said to help you, since you have not looked into any of the suggestions since your OP.

I would be very wary of a contractor who had no preference for the brand of doors they install. Installation is critical, so starting with a sub-par door would compound any issues.

My experienced carpenter highly recommended Thermatru doors. So, we special ordered a Thermatru front entry triple locking door. It is so well made. We love it, and have had it for a couple of years. We painted it with Behr, color: Baby Spinach, for an unexpected pop of color!