Best Video Doorbell Without A Subscription (2025 Update)
I’ve been using and testing video doorbells since the very first smart model, the DoorBot in 2013. My video doorbell reviews are based on a comprehensive performance testing methodology that stresses every model to the limit to determine exactly what it can and can’t deliver. I’m not interested in feels or opinions. Just hard data and facts.
I’ve selected the best doorbell models that don’t need ongoing fees based on this test data alone so you can be sure there’s no brand bias, quid-pro-quo or other nonsense influencing my picks.
When it comes to ‘no subscription’ video doorbells I’ve looked specifically at those that don’t require a subscription for most functionality. This is an important distinction since there are various doorbells that allow local recording but still lock features like smart detection or rich thumbnails behind a paywall.
These features are often nice-to-haves, like familiar face detection, and won’t detract significantly from the overall experience. It’s important to note what you won’t be getting though, since it may be something you actually want to use. In that case, an alternative model that doesn’t lock that feature down would likely be a better option.
My Testing Methodology
Categories
7Criteria
16Data Points
32See exactly how I test video doorbells and where the scores used for my picks come from.
The 5 Best Video Doorbells Without Subscriptions
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Best Overall |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price Bracket | |||||
| Price Bracket | $$ | $$ | $ | $$$$$ | $ |
| Subscription for | |||||
| Subscription for | Thumbnails | Vehicle/Animal | Thumbnails | ||
| Battery Life | |||||
| Battery Life | Wired | TBC | Wired | 78 days | 98 days |
| Storage | |||||
| Storage | MicroSD | MicroSD (32 inc) | MicroSD | 8GB | MicroSD |
What To Look For
Notification Performance
Something commonly overlooked by prospective buyers is the notifications you receive from the doorbell when something is detected. It’s easy to assume all doorbells do this much the same way, but this isn’t quite true. The delivery speed of the notifications is one important aspect that I test. A slow notification can be frustrating at best, and useless at worst as you’ve missed whatever was happening in time to do something about it.
Rich notifications are also a huge benefit. You’ll likely get multiple notifications a day from your doorbell and you don’t want to have to pull out your phone and open the app to see what’s up. Rich notifications provide an instant snapshot of the cause of an alert that appears right on your lock screen or, better yet, smart watch. Not all doorbells provide these for free, or even at all, so check for this feature up front.
Smart Detection
Good motion detection is only part of what makes a smart video doorbell useful. The additional object detection types a given model offers can help to both quickly identify an event and filter out things you don’t want to know about. Most doorbells now offer human (aka person) detection. This is the most useful smart identification, and you really want to ensure your doorbell offers this. Good person detection is the best way to eliminate false positives and ensure you only get notified when it matters.
Other options that can be useful in certain circumstances are typically vehicle, and animal detection. Some doorbells also offer the ability to identify known people and include that name in your alert notifications. This is a nice to have, but I haven’t found it really adds much value most of the time and it often doesn’t work very well (there are some standout exceptions though).
Finally, package detection might be something you specifically would have a use for. It alerts you specifically is a delivery is detected in front of your door so you can take action. Some package-focused doorbells offer additional tools like pickup reminders and tamper alerts to help keep an eye on things. Many cheaper models don’t have this feature at all, so pay attention if you want to watch those boxes.
Best Overall
Key Features
Field of View: 130°
Aspec Ratio: 4:3
Connectivity: Dual Band Wi-Fi
Storage: MicroSD up to 256GB
Battery Test: N/A - Wired only
Learn about the scoring methodology
Pros
✔ Superb camera clarity✔ Very accurate person detection
✔ Generous preroll captures everything that happens
Cons
✘ Rich notifications need a subscription✘ App can be unfriendly and needs polish
✘ No package detection features
The Verdict
The Reolink WiFi Doorbell Camera delivers in all the ways that matter for a security-focused doorbell. Superb video quality, reliable notifications that capture the right details, highly accurate person detection, and a long pre-roll video buffer that ensures everything that happens is captured - before and after motion is detected.
My tests didn’t uncover much of concern at all with this doorbell. Rich notifications could be a little faster, and the audio quality isn’t a perfect as some big brand consumer models, but it’s still very good. The most egregious omission is package detection - there is none - and the need for a subscription to get rich notifications. This requirement is odd, since you don’t really get anything else of value for your money, and setting up the account linking to the doorbell is way more painful that it should be for a feature that most other doorbells provide automatically.
On the other hand, Reolink has included a much asked for feature with little fanfare: continuous recording. When using a MicroSD card you can configure time periods where the camera will record non-stop if you so choose, and you can mix and match this with motion detection, person detection or visitor alerts depending on time of day.
Providing you can provide the doorbell with wired power, either with a doorbell transformer or the included plug-in power pack, the Reolink WiFi Doorbell offers excellent performance at a very affordable price point. If you don’t mind forgoing package detection, you’ll get better security coverage than any doorbell I’ve tested to date.
Read my Full Review
Type: Wired video doorbell with chime
Ongoing Fees: Required for rich notifications and cloud recording
Performance Scores
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 10.0 | 7.4 |
| Night Vision Quality | 9.6 | 6.8 |
| Dynamic Range | 7.9 | 5.8 |
| Two-Way Talk | 7.1 | 7.5 |
| Recorded Audio | 8.9 | 8.2 |
| Notification Delay | 8.9 | 7.8 |
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| Missed Events | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| Camera Wake Delay | 10.0 | 8.0 |
| Event Capture | 9.9 | 6.2 |
| Package Monitoring | N/A | 6.3 |
| Smart Detection | 7.0 | 7.7 |
| Live View Response | 9.5 | 8.2 |
| Privacy Features | 6.9 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 5.7 | 7.3 |
| Battery Performance | N/A | 6.6 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
Best For Wireless Install
Key Features
Field of View: 130°
Aspec Ratio: 16:9
Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
Storage: 32GB MicroSD included (optional Eufy Homebase)
Battery Test: TBC
Learn about the scoring methodology
Best For
✔ Excellent motion detection and filtering✔ Excellent video quality
✔ Very fast live stream access
Cons
✘ Slow notification delivery speeds✘ No package detection features
✘ Below average battery life
The Verdict
The C30 is a well-built, high performing addition at the budget end of Eufy’s doorbell range. As with other Eufy models the motion detection and video performance are excellent, with superb clarity in day and night conditions. Motion is captured reliably from long distances and even on the highest settings Eufy’s on-board filtering algorithm eliminates most of the nuisance motion events caused by wind, leaving only legitimate motion that you want to know about.
Night vision is equally impressive in terms of clarity but could use a bit more infra-red illumination given the long distance that motion can be recorded. This can easily be beyond the illuminated range making details harder to make out. Audio quality is acceptable, but a mixed bag. Recorded audio is quite good, but two-way talk suffers from a muffled microphone pickup that limits the usable range for conversation somewhat.
Eufy provides a polished and mature app with a bevy of useful tweaks and customization options, but smart features are limited to human detection only on this model, so if you want something more proactive around package security you’ll need to look at other options. You’ll also need to consider battery life as this model has no wired option. My testing showed the battery will hold up well enough on the highest settings, but it’s fairly average in terms of overall run time. More conservative motion settings would increase this, of course.
Overall Eufy has a solid offering with the C30 in this price bracket that covers most video doorbell needs. If you need a battery model specifically, you’ll be hard pressed to find a subscription free model with better security credentials and motion detection performance.
Read my Full Review
Type: Battery video doorbell
Ongoing Fees: Only for optional cloud storage
Performance Data
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 9.4 | 7.4 |
| Night Vision Quality | 8.7 | 6.8 |
| Dynamic Range | 5.0 | 5.8 |
| Two-Way Talk | 7.3 | 7.5 |
| Recorded Audio | 6.8 | 8.2 |
| Notification Delay | 6.7 | 7.8 |
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Missed Events | 9.8 | 9.5 |
| Camera Wake Delay | 9.8 | 8.0 |
| Event Capture | 9.7 | 6.2 |
| Package Monitoring | N/A | 6.3 |
| Smart Detection | 7.0 | 7.7 |
| Live View Response | 9.2 | 8.2 |
| Privacy Features | 9.4 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 6.4 | 7.3 |
| Battery Performance | 6.3 | 6.6 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
Best For 24/7 Recording
Key Features
Field of View: 108°
Aspec Ratio: 4:3
Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
Storage: MicroSD up to 256GB
Battery Test: Wired only
Learn about the scoring methodology
Best For
✔ Excellent video clarity both day and night✔ Highly accurate motion detection
✔ Local storage with continuous recording
Cons
✘ Only delivers text notifications✘ No package detection features
✘ Limited privacy controls
The Verdict
The WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K (model Y0110) delivers fast, accurate motion detection, super crisp video images, and subscription-free local storage at an incredible price. It’s also one of the few video doorbells that offer continuous 24/7 recording without needing to be part of a full CCTV setup.
My tests produced excellent video clarity results from the 2K camera during both day and night conditions, and the onboard smart object detection works extremely well to differentiate people from background movement to ensure you only get notified when it’s important. With pre-roll recording you’ll get the full motion event every time, even at longer ranges and the sensitivity of the motion sensor resulted in virtually no missed events at all.
The audio quality in both two-way talk and on recorded clips has improved considerably over WUUK’s earlier model but still suffers from some light distortion and low frequency response. This makes it quite usable out to medium range for holding conversations but falls short of more expensive offerings.
The biggest disappointment is a lack of thumbnails. Notifications are delivered very quickly, although lack any sort of rich content so you’ll need to open the app every time to see what’s going on. You’ll also not have much in the way of privacy controls, but from a security perspective the ability to capture everything on a local memory card could well make up for that.
Read my Full Review
Type: Wired video doorbell with chime
Ongoing Fees: Required for animal and vehicle smart detection
Performance Data
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 8.9 | 7.4 |
| Night Vision Quality | 9.6 | 6.8 |
| Dynamic Range | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Two-Way Talk | 6.6 | 7.5 |
| Recorded Audio | 5.6 | 8.2 |
| Notification Delay | 10.0 | 7.8 |
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 0.0 | 7.0 |
| Missed Events | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| Camera Wake Delay | 9.6 | 8.0 |
| Event Capture | 9.9 | 6.2 |
| Package Monitoring | N/A | 6.3 |
| Smart Detection | 9.8 | 7.7 |
| Live View Response | 7.5 | 8.2 |
| Privacy Features | 6.9 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 6.4 | 7.3 |
| Battery Performance | N/A | 6.6 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
Best For Package Security
Key Features
Field of View: 108°
Aspec Ratio: 4:3
Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
Storage: 8GB internal (Eufy Homebase optional)
Battery Test: 78 days
Learn about the scoring methodology
Best For
✔ Good Video and audio quality✔ Simple setup with internal memory built in
✔ Easy charging with removable battery pack
Cons
✘ Camera wake up can be slow✘ Video playback lacks good controls
✘ Thumbnail often misses cause of event
The Verdict
Video Doorbells often force a compromise on features due to installation limitations on power, chime support, or storage. The Eufy E340 avoids this by providing a wealth of options both in installation and software configuration to meet just about any use case.
With a removable, rechargeable battery pack, onboard storage memory, support for various wired power options, optional Homebase integration and onboard AI processing, you’ll find a combination that works for your situation. Eufy has stepped up here and delivered a combination of features that overcomes the limitations of their previous models and exceeds the flexibility of most of the competition.
The E340 scores very well on video quality, motion detection, battery life, and package monitoring capabilities, and is a standout performer if securing deliveries is your main goal. Eufy’s Delivery Guard features are uniquely useful and are considerably boosted by the dedicated package monitoring camera and LED spotlights.
My primary issue with the E340 is the notification performance. Notifications when using thumbnails (which I consider essential for useful notifications) are quite slow to arrive. You will get them reliably, but not always in time to act on them. Nonetheless, the E340 is a great all-round performer that delivers a solid, reliable user experience that can be tailored to your specific needs. If privacy, local storage, package security, and no subscription fees are you focus, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Read my Full Review
Type: Hybrid video doorbell (battery or wired)
Ongoing Fees: Only for optional cloud storage
Performance Data
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| Night Vision Quality | 6.6 | 6.8 |
| Dynamic Range | 7.5 | 5.8 |
| Two-Way Talk | 7.4 | 7.5 |
| Recorded Audio | 8.9 | 8.2 |
| Notification Delay | 7.1 | 7.8 |
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Missed Events | 9.1 | 9.5 |
| Camera Wake Delay | 6.8 | 8.0 |
| Event Capture | 6.8 | 6.2 |
| Package Monitoring | 8.7 | 6.3 |
| Smart Detection | 6.8 | 7.7 |
| Live View Response | 9.5 | 8.2 |
| Privacy Features | 7.5 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 6.4 | 7.3 |
| Battery Performance | 8.0 | 6.6 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
Looking for a doorbell on a budget?
Many of my top picks are in the mid to high price range simply because, well, you get what you pay for. While these models will generally have more features and better performance, if you’re on a budget and just need something to cover the basics there are obviously options at the lower end of the market as well.
Many cheap models are simply not worth bothering with, but I’ve picked the best option in this category if price is the major decision point for you. Just be sure to read my verdict below so you know the limitations up front.
Key Features
Field of View: 135°
Aspec Ratio: 16:9
Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
Storage: MicroSD up to 512GB
Battery Test: 98 days
Learn about the scoring methodology
Best For
✔ Wide field of view with good motion detection✔ Lots of alert customization options
✔ Excellent battery life
Cons
✘ Camera quality is lacking for it's spec✘ No package detection features
✘ Requires subscription for rich notifications
The Verdict
The Tapo D210 video doorbell offers an impressive range of smart detection features, good privacy controls, and very impressive motion detection accuracy. The range of customization features rivals that of the most expensive doorbell brands while delivering an app experience better than most.
My testing found the doorbell could identify people and vehicles immediately and consistently, even at the edge of the wide field of view lens and, with the optional subscription plan, delivered rich thumbnails of those events reliably in a usable time frame. The battery performed well under heavy load, and you can expect above average run time with typical sensitivity settings.
Video and audio quality was somewhat disappointing, however, with the 2K camera suffering from significant compression artifacts and the audio pickup diminished by a low-quality stream and consistent low-level distortion. These factors don’t take away from the typical doorbell use case but do have an impact when using the device for more general surveillance and security purposes.
In spite of those shortcomings, the D210 comes with an excellent set of features for the price and delivers performance that, for the most part, gives me little cause for concern. If you aren’t interested in wiring your doorbell, then this is definitely worth a look.
Read my Full Review
Type: Battery video doorbell with chime
Ongoing Fees: Required for rich notifications (thumbnails) and optional cloud storage
Performance Data
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 6.4 | 7.4 |
| Night Vision Quality | 6.0 | 6.8 |
| Dynamic Range | 3.8 | 5.8 |
| Two-Way Talk | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| Recorded Audio | 7.9 | 8.2 |
| Notification Delay | 9.1 | 7.8 |
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 9.7 | 7.0 |
| Missed Events | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| Camera Wake Delay | 7.8 | 8.0 |
| Event Capture | 4.7 | 6.2 |
| Package Monitoring | N/A | 6.3 |
| Smart Detection | 9.9 | 7.7 |
| Live View Response | 8.4 | 8.2 |
| Privacy Features | 9.4 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| Battery Performance | 7.5 | 6.6 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
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What You Need To Know
Can video doorbells ring existing chimes?
Some smart doorbells can use old-school wired chimes just fine, but it’s a bit hit and miss. For starters, only those doorbell models that use wired power (from an ordinary doorbell transformer) can use a wired chime at all - and not all of them can. If the doorbell supports wired chime, it will need to use the wiring from the original doorbell button to reach the chime. Different doorbells also may have extra wiring requirements in order to use a mechanical chime such as installing a ‘power pack’ or another kind of proprietary adapter near the chime itself. Digital chimes are usually out of the question, although some models provide an addon module that can allow their use. This is the least common scenario.
How do you charge a battery-powered doorbell?
In the vast majority of cases, the doorbell will need to be removed from its mounting bracket and taken inside to plug in. The charging port is usually a USB-C port on the side or rear of the unit, and any USB-C cable can be used. Charging will take several hours, so you’ll be without a doorbell for the duration.
To mitigate this outage, some doorbells use removable battery packs. By buying a spare battery pack from the manufacturer you can have a charged spare ready to swap out when needed. You may still have to remove the doorbell from the mount to do this, but you’ll be back online in a couple of minutes instead of hours.
Ring doorbells use a different case design that allows the front panel of the doorbell to be removed (once the security screw is taken out). This allows for very easy battery changes as you leave the doorbell in place. Indeed, this design negates the need for a mounting bracket at all and allows the doorbell to be screwed directly to the wall for extra strength.
Why pay for a doorbell subscription?
It is certainly possible to get very good functionality in a video doorbell without paying a monthly fee, but it is increasingly common for doorbell brands to paywall certain useful features like smart detection and rich notifications. This is frustrating as these are important and useful features and missing out on them degrades the utility of your investment considerably.
For not much more than the fee these features command, you could opt for a full service subscription. With the right choice of brand, you can get real value from these (but you need to be very selective) and get superior performance, more storage, and various benefits like theft protection and extended warranties.
