Security camera without monthly fee

Blink is one of the better budget friendly camera systems and you don't have to have a cloud subscription to use it. They are owned by Amazon so the cameras are also pretty cheap if you wait for an Amazon device sale which happens at least every 2-3 months. The cameras are battery operated too, which makes them easy to install and they get decent battery life.

The caveats for this system: Storing to a local flash drive makes accessing the video slower than if you had a cloud subscription, and to be honest even with the cloud I find it frustratingly slow. Storing to a flash drive also makes you vulnerable to theft. The hub that you add the flash drive to plugs into a wall outlet and connects the cameras to the wifi . You might be able to plug it into a discreet location and still get a decent signal, but I ended up adding the cloud subscription partly because my hub would be pretty noticeable and easy to take for someone that broke in.

To me the $100 a year subscription is worth the improved performance and redundancy. But the good thing about Blink is you don't have to start with the subscription if you don't want to. If I had to do it all over again I'd spend a bit more for a Ring system because they are supposed to be faster and better picture.

Tplink Kasa, have some at my house in MS and they've helped up well.

NVR with Poe ports and Poe cameras if you can run cable to them. You're still looking at a decent (haven't checked in a while but I'd say approaching if not exceeding 1k depending on quality) entry cost and monthly cost of Internet if you don't already have it.

Not much info on use case but Reolink and Wyze would be good to check out

Go on the Lorex website and purchase a system. They have great customer service if you need it. An actual human will talk to you.

If you have wifi:

WYZE is the answer and they offer outdoor, solar powered cameras should you need those, as well.