Best smart video doorbells that don't need subscriptions

Standard smart doorbell subscriptions typically range from around £30 to £60 per year, but could top £100 if you want to store video clips for more than a month or cover multiple devices.  

Plus, the price of any subscription can go up, as seen recently with Amazon's Ring announcing plans to increase the cost of its Ring Protect Basic plan by more than 40%. 

However, you don't necessarily need to lock yourself into ongoing charges if you pick a smart doorbell with 'free' local storage options. Plus, find out how prices differ between the major brands so you know what you're getting into before you buy.

Smart doorbell reviews - we explore subscription costs in all the doorbells we test.

Subscription-free smart video doorbells to consider

Ezviz DB1C

If you're on a tight budget, this cheap doorbell from Ezviz is an appealing prospect. It has a 1,536p Tall Full HD resolution camera, night vision and motion detection, all for comfortably under £100. Just bear in mind that as it requires hardwiring to the electricity supply, you might need to pay for professional installation.

As you can store video locally on a storage device of up to 256GB, you only need to sign up to a cloud plan if you want to access video online. We cover Ezviz subscription costs below. 

See how this budget-friendly smart doorbell fared under testing in our Ezviz DB1C review. 

TP-Link Tapo D230S1 Smart Battery Video Doorbell

It’s a smart video doorbell from TP-Link that has a 2K camera - a higher picture resolution than most doorbells.  

You can record video clips locally using an up to 512GB micro-SD card installed in an included hub that you plug inside your home. If you want to record to the cloud to access remotely, you’ll need a Tapo Care subscription. 

Find out how this smart doorbell scored in our TP-Link Tapo D230S1 review.

Eufy Video Doorbell Dual

The ‘dual’ part of this doorbell's name refers to the fact that it has two cameras – one forward-facing and the other pointing downwards so you can easily see if a package has arrived. 

It can be battery-powered, so you can in theory install it yourself, or you can have it hardwired to the mains. You can store video footage locally on the base station’s internal 16GB of memory. That means you aren’t forced to take out a paid subscription unless you want more space or to accces recordings online (see more below). 

For more on this innovative smart doorbell see our Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review. 

Ubiquiti UniFi Protect G4 Doorbell

This Ubiquiti doorbell offers a continuous recording solution, although you will need to purchase an additional storage device from Ubiquiti to make it work. 

We used the UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 Plus during testing. Costing around £190, it has 1TB of storage built in (enough for 1,600 hours of footage) and is well integrated with the doorbell and its app. The storage system is a bit fiddly to set up, but well worth the effort, as once installed you can just let it record 24/7. 

And while the total upfront cost is high (at nearly £400), you might ultimately save money over time against comparable doorbells with pricey subscription services.

See if this high-spec smart doorbell is overall worth buying in our Ubiquiti UniFi Protect G4 Doorbell review. 

Smart doorbell subscription costs compared

If you do prefer a brand or model that requires a monthly subscription to save video clips to access online, it's still worth shopping around. Costs can vary from £2.38 up to £6 per month – and you can often get a discount by paying annually. 

• Ring Protect: The Basic plan, which gives you 30 days of video storage for a single Ring device, increased from £2.50 a month (£24.99 a year) to £3.49 a month (£34.99 a year) in early 2023. It will go up again on 11 March 2024 to £4.99 a month (£49.99 a year), which puts Ring towards the more expensive end of the market. You can't store video from a Ring device without a subscription.
• Nest Aware: With Google's Nest you can record video clips from the past three hours on the free plan, but you'll need the basic subscription for up to 30 days, at £6 a month, or £60 a year. That's the most expensive standard plan of the big doorbell brands we've assessed.
• Blink: You can buy a Sync Module with Blink doorbells for local storage, but Blink encourages a subscription by locking out features like online video clip streaming, photo capture and clip sharing. To get this, plus 30 days of rolling cloud storage, you’ll need to pay for either a Basic plan at £2.50 per month (£25 a year) or Plus at £8 per month (£80 a year) – the latter covers you for an unlimited number of cameras at the same location.
• Arlo Secure: Arlo's cloud subscription starts at £4.49 a month for a single doorbell – you get 30-days video storage, enhanced motion detection and a pledge to replace your doorbell if it’s stolen. No Arlo dorobell we have tested offers local recording.
• TP-Link TapoCare: TP-Link's basic cloud storage subscription supports up to seven days of video storage and starts at £2.49 a month or £24.99 a year for a single doorbell, or 30 days for £2.99 a month or £29.49 a year. 
• Ezviz Cloudplay storage: Just like Eufy, Ezviz does support local recording. You only get 7 days of video history with the basic plan, covering a single doorbell for £3.18 a month (£31.87 yearly). To get 30 days of video storage, you'll need to pay £5.57 a month (£55.67 annually). 
• Eufy Cloud Storage: Eufy does have local recording options, such as on the model featured above. You can sign up for cloud storage, with the basic plan giving 30 days of storage for £2.38 a month (£23.90annually) for a single device.

Do I need a subscription with my smart doorbell?

As you'd expect, smart doorbell brands laud the value of their subscription plans but consider whether you actually need one at all. All smart doorbells will function on a basic level without a subscription - you will be able to view the camera from your smartphone, respond to visitors and get alerts of what's going on in front of the door. 

Local storage options can be a low cost way to record video without needing to commit to an ongoing subscription. However, if you want to store video clips to access later on, say to identify an intruder, you will need to consider video storage. 

You also need to consider how you'll want to access video clips. Most local storage options require you to load clips up to a laptop to view. But again, if you want to access them online, that's where the subscription service comes in. 

Learn more about this in our guide on how to save money on smart tech subscription costs

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