Compare Home Surveillance Cameras

If you’re like me and are looking for good wireless security cameras, you’ll likely start with a search and end up at some big retailer website that has a solid review system. I’m thinking something like Amazon or Newegg.

Then, search and filter for the features that you’re looking for and try to use the user reviews to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

Here’s the catch:
Unfortunately, since the big sites are set up to be very generic, your ability to finely refine the cameras that you’re interested in is going to be pretty limited. For instance, sorting by brand will be easy, but what if you only want cameras with on-board memory for video storage? Or, what if you’re only interested in cameras that have night vision capabilities?

Guess what?

That’s why I started building a home security camera comparison tool to help you out.

Home surveillance cameras can be used to keep an eye on your house while you’re away and really bolster the security of your home. You can use them to:

• make sure your kids get home from school  and work on their homework
• keep an eye on your teenager and her boyfriend when they’re watching a movie downstairs
• watch your pets and make sure they aren’t destroying your furniture
• monitor a baby sitter and your kids on your night out
• insure nobody has broken into your house!

And recently, the software that comes with the newer home surveillance cameras has gotten much more sophisticated.  In the past, top of the line home security cameras would flag events in the video for further review, but that might include wind blowing trees around, birds and large insects, or drapes blowing when the air comes on.  With some newer surveillance systems, the capabilities are getting downright impressive.  For instance, cameras like the DropCam will let you set up areas or zones that you expect movement and other zones where you do not.  So, you could ignore moving drapes and keep an eye on your front door and the hallway.

You can even have the option to avail wifi cameras or choose cellular security cameras that don’t require the internet.

And when you do get that alert, a traditional security system may not offer a camera, and that makes it tough to determine if there is a legitimate emergency or not.  But if you have a home security system with a camera, you can immediately identify a burglary and alert the police.

Bonus:

That gets you a quicker response too!

So, if a home security camera seems like a good fit for your security system or even a good supplement to the one you already have, take a look at the home surveillance cameras and features that we’ve compiled here to see which is best for you.

Compare Home Surveillance Cameras

System	Monitoring	Wireless Data	Wireless Power	Local Storage	Pan and Tilt	Quality	Viewing Angle (degrees)	Outdoor use?	Night Vision (ft)	2 Way Audio	Cost	Min. Monitoring Cost (/mo)	Max. Monitoring Cost (/mo)	Reviews	Other Features
Arlo Go	DIY	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1280 x 720		Yes	25	Yes	350	2.99	14.99
Belkin Netcam HD	DIY	Yes	No	No	No	1280x720	76	No	Yes	Yes	130	0	10	Netcam HD Reviews
Blink	DIY	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1280x720		No	Yes	No	79	0	0
Canary	DIY/Pro	Yes	No	No	No	1920x1080 sensor (stream is lower quality)	147	No	Yes	Yes	250	0	20	Canary Reviews	- Monitors temp., humidity, and air quality - Store 12 hours history for free
Canary Flex	DIY/Pro	Yes	No	No	No	1280x720	116	Yes	Yes	Yes	200	0	20		- Store 24 hours for free
Comcast Xfinity Home Secure	Pro	Both	No	No	No	640x480, 30 fps		Yes	Yes	No	130	30	30
Dahua IPC-HFW4300S 3MP	DVR/NVR reqd.	No	No	No	No	2048x1536, 20 fps	72.5	Yes	90	No	126	0	0
Dahua IPC-K200A 2 MP	DVR/NVR reqd.	No	No	Yes	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	86.5	No	30	Yes	160	0	0
D-Link Cloud Camera 5000	DIY	Both	No	Yes	Yes	1280x720	70	No	26	Add-on	170	0	0
FLIR FX - site	DIY	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	160	Yes	33	Yes	200	0	20	FLIR FX Reviews	#NAME?
Foscam FI9826 - site	DIY	Both	No	Yes	Yes	1280x960, 30 fps	35-70	No	26	Yes	200	0	50
Foscam FI9805E - site	DIY	No	No	No	No	1280x960	70	Yes	90	Yes	155	0	50
Insteon WiFi	DIY	Both	No	No	Yes	1280x720, 30 fps	70	No	26	Yes	100	0	0
Insteon Outdoor	DIY	Both	No	No	Yes	1280x720, 30 fps	70	Yes	98	Yes	120	0	0
iSmartAlarm iCamera Keep	DIY	Yes	No	No	Yes	1280x720		No	Yes	No	150	0	0	iSmartAlarm Keep Review
iSmartAlarm Spot	DIY	Yes	No	Yes	No	1280x720	130	No	30	Yes	130	0	0	iSmartAlarm Spot Review	#NAME?
Lorex Ping	DVR/NVR reqd.	Yes	No	Yes	No	960x480		Yes	30	No	350	0	0
Nest Cam	DIY/Pro	Yes	No	No	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	130	No	Yes	Yes	200	10	30	Dropcam HD Reviews	- Saves pictures from last 3 hours - Person detection - Designate activity zones for alerts
Nest Cam Outdoor	DIY/Pro	Yes	No	No	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	130	Yes	Yes	Yes	200	0	30		- Saves pictures from last 3 hours - Person detection - Designate activity zones for alerts
Netatmo Welcome (site)	DIY	Yes	No	Yes	No	1920x1280	130	No	Yes	No	200	0	0		#NAME?
Netgear Arlo Q	DIY	Yes	No	No	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	130	No	25	Yes	220	0	15
Netgear Arlo	DIY	Yes	Yes	No	No	1280x720, 30 fps	120	Yes	No	No	350 (for 2)	0	5	Arlo Reviews
Netgear Vuezone	DIY	Yes	Yes	No	No	1600x1200, 1 fps	60	No	No	No	80	0	5		#NAME?
Netgear Vuezone Night Vision	DIY	Yes	Yes	No	No	1600x1200, 1 fps	110	No	25	No	130	0	5		#NAME?
Oplink Connected	DIY	No	No	Yes	No	640x480	66	No	Yes	No	250	10	20	Oplink Connected Reviews
Piper	DIY	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	1920x1280	180	No	No	Yes	200	0	0	Piper Reviews
Piper NV	DIY	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	2480x1395	180	No	Yes	Yes	270	0	0	Piper NV Reviews
Reolink Go	DIY	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1920x1080	110	Yes	33	Yes	250	0	0
Samsung SmartCam (SNH-P6410BN)	DIY	Both	No	Yes	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	128	Yes	15	Yes	185	0	0	Smartcam Reviews	#NAME?
Samsung SmartCam (SNH-E6440BN)	DIY	Both	No	Yes	No	1920x1080, 30 fps	128	Yes	15	Yes	230	0	0	Smartcam Reviews	#NAME?
Simplicam	DIY	Yes	No	No	No	1280x720		No	Yes	Yes	150	0	23	Simplicam Reviews	#NAME?
Vera Vistacam PT - site	DIY	Both	No	No	Yes	640x480, 15 fps	60	No	20	Yes	80	0	0
Vera Vistacam 700 - site	DIY	Both	No	Yes	No	1280x720, 30 fps	72	No	15	No	120	0	0
Viper Home	DIY	Yes	Yes	No	No	640x480	67	No	Yes	No	230	0	10
Y-Cam HomeMonitor HD	DIY	Both	No	No	No	1280x720, 30 fps	87	No	40	No	200	0	10	Y-Cam HD Reviews
Y-Cam HomeMonitor HD Pro	DIY	Both	No	No	No	1280x720, 30 fps	87	No	40	No	280	0	10	Y-Cam HD Pro Reviews

Note: Some of these items use affiliate links to Amazon. If you prefer, you can use the adjacent link to go to the manufacturer’s website instead.

We hope you enjoyed using our tool to compare home surveillance cameras. Let us know if you want to see any improvements using our contact form.

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See something that needs to be corrected? It’s tough keeping up with all of the offerings and changes that are out there. Send us a note telling us what the change is and what you’re using as a reference.

And once you’ve got your camera in place, you might want to check out these tips to prevent spiders from filling your nights with false alarms of web building and bug consumption.

You can also pair your security cameras with smart devices using the best open source home automation.

For other smart home recommendations, check out our Simplisafe Security, Hubitat review, and Konnected review to know whether it’s worth the investment or not.