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.

Reolink

Reolink

Eufy or Reolink

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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.

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i'm not sure the costs you are discussing but the reolink poe system just has an NVR that stores a good bit of video history and i can pull it up on my phone or locally without any other charges.

i assume you're discussing some type of hybrid nvr/cloud solution that still pushes video to a hosted location?

i think there may be something like that for reolink but i have no interest; its doing exactly what its supposed to do.

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.

I'll second blink but haven't tried the others mentioned here.

I got the mini on prime day for $15. It's only black and white but has night vision and you can listen and talk through it. I'm thinking about getting the upgrade that is color and you can pan the room, which is on sale for $40 right now.

ETA: the mini I have and the one with pan/tilt that I want are both hard wired.

If you have wifi:

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