Which home security camera has the best cloud storage plan?

An unfortunate fact is that many of the best home security cameras and best video doorbells require you to sign up for a subscription in order to use a lot of their features, such as saving video. If there's an incident on your property where you need to review footage of an event, then a subscription will be necessary in order for you to see what happened.

Security camera subscriptions also include other benefits and features, such as more advanced detection, comprehensive search, and even AI to help you more easily sift through all your videos.

But which offers the best deal when it comes to cloud storage for all the video they record? After analyzing all of the plans available from the major platforms, I think that the best plan overall is Nest Aware, which offers the ideal balance of price and features. Its subscription starts at $8/month and includes an unlimited number of cameras, as well as person and package detection. And, if you subscribe to its top-tier plan ($15/month), you get continuous video recording for free.

The best for storage is Ring. All of its plans give you 180 days of video history — far more than any other service — as well as person and package alerts.

The best cheap plan — if you're looking for the absolute least expensive plan — is the Blink Basic plan. It's just $3/month, covers one camera, and gets you 60 days of video history.

Of course, if you don't want to pay a subscription at all, the best free plan is Eufy; it offers many of the best features (such as smart notifications, video storage and advanced detection) for free.

Best security camera storage plans

Here's a quick look at what each company offers, and how much it costs.

Best overall

Google Nest

While Nest's plans aren't the cheapest, they deliver the best value. Its least expensive plan starts at $8/month, but you get coverage for unlimited cameras, which represents a better deal than Ring and Arlo. You're only getting 30 days of video history, which is skimpier than everyone but Wyze, but that's still a good amount of time.

One thing we like about Nest is that some of its newer cameras and video doorbells include three hours of video history without requiring a subscription; while we wish it were longer, it's something that you don't get from the likes of Arlo, Ring, or Wyze. The one caveat: if your cameras record something in the middle of the night and you're not awake to hear it and download the saved video, you won't be able to retrieve it come the morning.

We also like that with Nest Aware Plus, you do get 24/7 recording included in the price, rather than it being an add-on service, and for less than what Ring offers.

Both of Nest's plans include familiar face detection, as well as smoke alarm, carbon monoxide, and glass breaking.

Some features vary by device; for example, some of Nest's cameras can detect dogs barking, while others can detect animals and vehicles. Only Nest's video doorbells can detect packages.

Best storage

Ring

Ring plans offers three tiers of service, starting at $4.99/month and going up to $19.99/month. The Basic plan only covers one camera, while the Standard and Premium plans cover unlimited cameras. In all cases, you get 180 days of video history, which is by far the longest among all of the security camera companies.

All three plans also let you get person and package alerts, though compared to other companies, it's pretty limited — Arlo and Wyze, for example, also provide vehicle and pet alerts, as well as things like fire detection, glass breaking, and babies crying.

Ring's Standard and Premium tiers also let you subscribe to additional services — professional monitoring and a virtual security guard, but those cost extra.

Ring's Premium plan also gets you access to 24/7 recording as well as an AI Smart Video Search, which makes it easier to comb through all your footage.

Best cheap plan

Blink

Similar to the cameras themselves, Blink offers one of the more affordable storage plans on the market. However, compared to some of the others, its feature set is pretty limited. For example, it can detect people, but can't recognize packages, vehicles, or animals.

You can forego Blink's subscription if you use the Sync Module 2 as a local storage device. This will let you connect up to 10 cameras and save video locally. However, you won't be able to view videos as soon as they're recorded, you don't get cloud storage, and you can't record a live view from the cameras.

Best free plan

Eufy

Of course, you don't have to sign up for a subscription plan. Some companies, such as Eufy, let you use virtually all of their camera's features without requiring a subscription. In Eufy's case, the one tradeoff is that you can't store video footage in the cloud, only locally.

Other plans to consider

Arlo

Arlo's security plans are the most expensive among the major companies. However, there's very little dropoff between its Premium and Plus plans - the only major difference is that the Premium plan gets you 24/7 professional monitoring and response, as well as discounts on your home insurance, which may help to defray the cost overall. If you're a first-time subscriber, you can get the Plus plan at a discounted $4.99/month for a single camera and $12.99/month for unlimited cameras.

Arlo also offers continuous video recording, which can be added for $9.99/month for 14 days or $19.99/month for 30 days.

Arlo's Intelligence features include familiar face recognition, as well as fire detection (its cameras can detect flames), and smoke or carbon monoxide alarm detection. You can also create custom detection events, such as "garage open" or "sprinklers on."

Note that these plans are specifically for Arlo's security cameras; if you have Arlo's security system (one of the best DIY home security systems), you have to subscribe to the Arlo Total Security Plan.

Wyze

Among the best security cameras, Wyze's plans offer perhaps the most comprehensive list of things its cameras can detect. In addition to person, package, animal, and vehicle detection, it can also pick up meowing, barking, talking and crying, as well as the sound of a gun firing and glass breaking.

If you sign up for its Unlimited or Unlimited Pro plans, you can also use its familiar faces feature, where it will recognize and identify regular visitors. The Unlimited Pro plan also gives you AI video search and descriptive alerts, which provides more detailed information about what's in your videos.

Compared to the other services, though, Wyze offers the least amount of video history — just two weeks, compared to half a year from Ring.

Apple HomeKit

Apple is unique in that its security camera plans come as part of iCloud. If you have the base 50GB plan ($0.99/month), you can store footage from a single camera. If you have a 200GB iCloud storage plan ($2.99/month), you can store footage from up to five cameras. If you have a 2TB iCloud plan ($9.99 per month), you can store footage from an unlimited number of cameras. In all cases, you can save up to 10 days of footage, which is less than what even Wyze offers.

HomeKit Secure Video also has facial recognition, as well as animal, vehicle, and package detection.

You'll also need some sort of HomeKit-enabled base station, such as a HomePod or Apple TV. Video footage will be securely analyzed on a HomePod, iPad, or Apple TV device before being encrypted and sent to iCloud for storage. However, one of the biggest limitations of HomeKit Secure video is that footage is limited to 1080p, so even if you have a camera that can record at 2K or higher, it will be downgraded to the lower resolution. There's also no option for continuous video recording.

Features to consider

If you want to hold your videos in the cloud for as long as possible, Ring is your best option — regardless of the plan you choose, you get 180 days of video history.

Next is Arlo, which offers 60 days for both of its plans, followed by Nest and Wyze, which offer 60 days, but only with their premium plans.

Apple has the skimpiest, at just 10 days.

Arlo users can also subscribe to a CVR (continuous video recording) Plan, which will continuously record video to the cloud. However, you can only view this video, not download it. A 14-day CVR plan costs $10/$100 per camera, and a 30-day CVR plan costs $20/$200 per camera. The price plan for each additional camera is 50 percent less.

Ring also has a 24/7 recording plan, which comes with the Ring Premium plan, which costs $19.99/month or $199/year.

Nest Aware Plus subscribers ($15/month, $150/year) can also access 24/7 video history for an unlimited number of cameras, but it only covers 10 days.

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