My regular wireless doorbell is often not working due to poor weatherproofing and I have been thinking about upgrading to a video doorbell since they have become widely available. What I like most about video doorbells is that one can easily see who is at the door and one can also see if someone tries to deliver a package while one is not at home.
When considering the cost of a video doorbell you need to keep in mind the initial purchase price and a possible monthly subscription. I will not consider installation cost here since all of the models are suitable for DIY installation and if you hire someone to do it the cost will be similar regardless of the model.
In the below table you can see prices for common video doorbell models which range from around $90 to $230. There are cheaper Chinese brands that can be bought for around $30 to $50 but those do tend to have lower built quality and less user-friendly app experiences.
| Model | Price | Power |
| Ring Video Doorbell (1st Gen) | $99 | Battery and Wired |
| Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen) | $99 | Battery and Wired |
| Ring Video Doorbell Pro | $189 | Wired |
| Nest Hello | $229 | Wired |
| Arlo Video Doorbell | $149 | Wired |
| Eufy Video Doorbell | $159 | Wired |
| Eufy Video Doorbell (Battery-Powered) | $199 | Battery and Wired |
| Remo+ RemoBell S | $89 | Wired |
| TOUCAN Video Doorbell | $89 | Battery |
Doorbell Camera Purchase Price
When looking at video doorbell prices you should look at the hardware, build quality, and the software that comes with it. You might get great specifications on some cheaper Chinese brands but the software experience may be poor.
Reasons for getting a video doorbell often are
- Seeing who is at the door before opening it
- Talking to someone at the door while not being at home
- Checking video recording of who has been at the door
So a big part of the use case is having a smartphone app that allows you to easily do the above-listed things. If the notifications are slow or the app is clunky you won’t use the doorbell for those advanced features and it becomes just an expensive regular doorbell.
My suggestion is to invest in one of the more popular brands who have also invested in their smartphone apps and their devices tend to have better reviews as well. The best-known brands with the highest reviews for video doorbells currently are:
- Ring video doorbells
- Nest Hello
- Eufy video doorbells
- Arlo video doorbells
Since Ring just dropped the price of the Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen) to under $100 I consider it a great option. But also look at subscription costs discussed in the next chapter since that adds to the cost and does change things in favour of some of the other brands.
Note that the Ring Video Doorbell 2 doesn’t include a chime and the bundle with the chime costs $120 so you might consider upgrading to the Ring Video Doorbell 3 for $150 with a free Echo Dot which you can use as a chime.
Further down in the article I have included two tables (Wired and Battery powered) for comparing some of the more popular video doorbells with links to check the price on Amazon.
Doorbell Camera Subscription Cost
It seems that many of the higher end brands have opted for a subscription model for their video doorbells. They seem to justify the subscription with cloud storage for the video recordings.
I think cloud storage for the video recordings is handy since it’s easy to set up and you have the benefit that you will have the video recording even if there is a break-in at your house. Still having a subscription for a doorbell feels unreasonable and it does rub many people the wrong way.
| Brand | Storage | Subscription cost for cloud storage |
| Ring Video Doorbell | Cloud Storage | The Basic subscription cost is $3 per month. This is per device. |
| Nest Hello | Cloud Storage | The Nest Aware subscription is $6 per month for all your devices. |
| Eufy Video Doorbell | Local Storage | No monthly subscription fees. |
| Arlo Video Doorbell | Cloud Storage | The Arlo Smart subscription is $3 per month. |
The Ring video doorbells do work without the subscription and you can receive the alerts and communicate with someone at the door but you will not be able to save recordings.
I often see the question about saving videos from Ring, Nest or Arlo video doorbells without a subscription. I was also searching for this but didn’t find any tricks to overcome this issue. I believe thus far there is no option to store video recordings on Ring, Nest or Arlo devices without a subscription.
If you feel strongly about needing the video recordings and you want to avoid the subscription my recommendation is to avoid the subscription-based brands and look at the Eufy Video Doorbell or some other option with local storage.
If you want to use the video storage feature the subscription cost needs to be factored into the purchase price. If we calculate just 3 years of ownership with the subscription active the monthly $3 subscription ads up to $108.
So considering the subscription cost a $100 video doorbell becomes a $200+ video doorbell with 3 years of subscription.
Wired or Battery Powered Video Doorbell
Wired Video Doorbells
There is a wide selection of wired video doorbells and many models which have the battery powered option can also be wired in. My recommendation is to definitely use a wired video doorbell if you have existing wiring you can connect the video doorbell to. It saves you a lot of hassle with not needing to recharge the battery every 3 to 6 months.
In the below table you can see and compare some of the more popular wired video doorbell options and also click to check the current price on Amazon.
| Picture | Buy on Amazon | Price | Rating | Power | Storage | IP rating | Resolution | Night vision | Field of Vision | Two way audio | Temperature | Model | Released | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Ring Video Doorbell (1st Gen) | under $100 | 4.2 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 720p | Yes | 180° | Yes | Ring | ||||
  | eufy Video Doorbell | under $200 | 4.5 | Wired | Local storage | IP65 | 2K | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 50°C | T8200 | Eufy | |
  | Eufy Video Doorbell (Battery-Powered) | under $200 | 4.4 | Battery (6months) and Wired | Local storage | IP65 | 2K | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 45°C | Eufy | ||
  | Remo+ RemoBell S | under $100 | 3.9 | Wired | 3 days rolling cloud storage included at no cost | 1080p | Yes | 180° | Yes | -20°C to 50°C | RMBL-1809H | Remo | ||
| Arlo Video Doorbell | under $150 | 4.4 | Wired | Cloud storage, subscription required. | 1536x1536 | Yes | 180° | Yes | -20°C to 45°C | AVD1001-100NAS | Arlo | |||
  | Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen) | under $100 | 3.5 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 1080p | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 48°C) | Ring | |||
  | Amcrest Video Doorbell | under $100 | 4 | Wired | Local storage | IP55 | 1080p | Yes | 140° | Yes | Amcrest | |||
  | Ring Video Doorbell Pro | under $200 | 4.2 | Wired | Cloud subscription | 1080p | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 48°C) | Ring | |||
| Nest hello | under $250 | Wired | Cloud subscription | 1600x1200 | Yes | 160° | Yes | Nest | ||||||
  | Ring Video Doorbell 3 | under $150 | 4.1 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 1080p | Yes | Yes | -20°C to 48°C) | Ring |
Battery Powered Video Doorbells
The selection for battery-powered video doorbells has increased in recent years. Ring used to be the only battery-powered option but now Eufy is an excellent option as well.
My preference would be to power the video doorbell with existing wiring if that exists just for the convenience of not needing to take the battery out for recharging and it would make the setup more reliable.
One advantage which you have with the battery powered options is that you can place the video doorbell pretty much anywhere you want and it will allow you to get a better angle and visibility of who is at the door.
Personally I don’t have existing wiring and I’m opting for the battery powered option.
In the below table you can see and compare some of the more popular battery-powered video doorbell options and also click to check the current price on Amazon.
| Picture | Buy on Amazon | Price | Rating | Power | Storage | IP rating | Resolution | Night vision | Field of Vision | Two way audio | Temperature | Model | Released | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ring Video Doorbell (1st Gen) | under $100 | 4.2 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 720p | Yes | 180° | Yes | Ring | ||||
| Eufy Video Doorbell (Battery-Powered) | under $200 | 4.4 | Battery (6months) and Wired | Local storage | IP65 | 2K | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 45°C | Eufy | ||
| Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen) | under $100 | 3.5 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 1080p | Yes | 160° | Yes | -20°C to 48°C) | Ring | |||
  | UOKIER Video Doorbell | under $100 | 4.1 | Battery (2-4months) | Local storage | IP65 | 1080p | Yes | 166° | Yes | UOKIER | |||
  | Toucan Video Doorbell | under $100 | 3.9 | Battery | 1 days rolling cloud storage included at no cost | IP56 | 1080p | Yes | 180° | Yes | TOUCAN | |||
  | August Doorbell Cam Pro | under $200 | 2.9 | Battery | 1 days rolling cloud storage included at no cost | Yes | 120° | Yes | August | |||||
| Ring Video Doorbell 3 | under $150 | 4.1 | Battery (3-6months) and Wired | Cloud subscription | 1080p | Yes | Yes | -20°C to 48°C) | Ring |
Conclusion
Video doorbell purchase prices range from around $90 to $230 and the most typical monthly subscription cost for cloud storage is $3 per month.
So, for example, the Ring video doorbell 2 will cost you around $208 with the subscription for 3 years. On the other hand, you can buy a video doorbell, for example, from Eufy for $160 or $200 and use local storage and avoid the subscription entirely.
Another option I personally am considering is getting the Ring Video Doorbell 2 for $99 and just use it without the subscription since my use case is just about communicating with who is at the door. I have outdoor video cameras already dealing with the recording aspect.
