Video Doorbell Subscriptions: Why Pay More?
With more and more services, apps and products demanding a subscription it’s understandable that you would want to avoid any more for things like smart cameras and doorbells. There are certainly plenty of very good video doorbell options now available that don’t require a monthly fee at all, so why would you sign up for an ongoing plan?
Video doorbell subscriptions provide two specific functions:
They always provide cloud-based storage for video clips recorded by the doorbell.
They may also unlock major features in the doorbell’s app.
You should pay a subscription only if the specific doorbell model provides higher performance where it matters to you (such as motion detection accuracy or notification speed), you want to keep your recorded video events safely away from the house, or you intend to expand (or already have) into a more comprehensive video surveillance setup using a single brand’s cameras, sensors, or alarm systems.
Many of the biggest names in smart security cameras are cloud-based by design. This includes the likes of Ring, Arlo, and Google. This means they use a subscription for both of these roles and effectively only provide storage for recording video in their cloud service rather than any local storage. There are some edge cases here where some local storage might be an option, but for the purposes of this discussion I’ll stick to the base design of these systems.
Subscription functions
Cloud video storage
Besides the big cloud-based services, most video doorbell makers offer some form of cloud subscription. These subscriptions are usually likmited to just providing storage for video clips, but may sometimes add some nice-to-have features as a sweetener. These features have not been necessary, or even very useful, so you’d really only opt-in if you want to storage your recordings offsite.
Models that work without a subscription will store these recordings either on the video doorbell itself, or on some form of hub inside the house. Obviously, these can be targeted by thieves, or destroyed in the event of a catastrophic incident. The main argument in favor of cloud storage is that if something were to happen to your home, the recordings of what went down will be safely elsewhere and accessible through the app after the fact.
These cheap, optional cloud subscriptions generally provide 30 days of storage for videos, which is substantially less than the cloud-based doorbell offerings (which can be up to180 days) but is likely more than enough for most situations. It’s very rare that I’ve needed to go back further than that to retrieve something.
Outside of major, reputable brands I would caution against using cloud-based storage. The lack of rigorous security design in the industry is a serious issue and could easily leave your videos open to unauthorized access by both hackers and unscrupulous employees of the hosting company.
Larger brands have reputations to protect, and are more heavily scrutinized by security researchers. Many small, cheap device makers fly under the radar. Not only do they not invest in adequate security design, but it largely goes unnoticed, leaving customers at risk.
Major feature access
Cloud-based providers not only store all their video clips in the cloud, but lock much of the doorbell’s functionality behind a paywall.
While it is technically possible to use these types of doorbells without a subscription, the value proposition of the higher end price tag they tend to command is destroyed as you’ll lose most of the functionality that justifies that upfront cost.
In these cases, you’ll be able to access the live view, get basic text notifications of motion and doorbell rings…and that’s about it.
All smart detection capabilities, motion zones, rich notifications, and any recording at all will be unavailable. These limitations might be fine for some buyers, but if that’s all you want then you’ll be much better off going for a cheaper model anyway, since the superior performance of these locked functions won’t be a factor in the choice of model.
For the rest of us, these features are important to get the most value out of a smart video doorbell in the first place. Some doorbell models may offer unique features or superior performance that justify the fee, and the brands that do this know they need to sweeten the deal, so they offer incentives like extended warranties, discounts, and theft replacement guarantees.
Check out the subscription offerings from Ring and Arlo as examples of these inclusions:
Ring subscription plans
Arlo subscription plans
Consider product longevity
Another factor that plays into my personal decisions around subscriptions is product longevity. How viable is the device maker going to be in the long term?
Smart devices can suffer from what might be called ‘product abandonment’. Many of these devices depend on some sort of the server connection to function. Either to provide connectivity to smart home platforms, firmware updates, or - most importantly - linkage to their smart phone app.
The vast majority of doorbell apps do not talk directly to the doorbell device but access it via an intermediary server, even if you don’t use the cloud for anything else. This server provides both authentication, so that only the right people can access the right doorbell, and the connection routing to ensure that you can access the doorbell from anywhere you are, and it can send you notifications in the same way.
How stable is the company behind that server? Are they going to stand behind their product over the long term or are they going to disappear and leave you with an expensive paperweight?
This doesn’t mean you need to pay a subscription to ensure you won’t be left hanging. There are reputable brands, like Eufy Security, that offer subscription free doorbells that aren’t going anywhere. These large consumer tech companies can have good reputations that you can count on for the long haul.
Smaller brands, though, I wouldn’t be confident in. If they are using a subscription model that gives some extra weight to the idea that they may stick around, they have an ongoing revenue stream to support operations, and an incentive to maintain the product to keep people paying.
Learn more about video doorbells with my series of expert guides, or start comparing different models based on my in-depth test results.
