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Sarah Saril/Business Insider
In my hunt for the best smart home doorbell, one factor always came up for every prospective shopper: whether it requires a subscription plan. It makes sense, after all, when you’re shelling out over $100 for a doorbell, why would anyone want to be stuck paying more to make it work properly?
Unfortunately, for the best performance, the kind you see in Reels with funny wildlife interactions and delivery person struggles, you need to hop onto the manufacturer’s monthly service. Without it, your smart doorbell’s IQ is greatly decreased, lacking features like 24/7 recording, descriptive notifications, cloud storage, and more. That’s why, after extensive testing and research, my list of the best video doorbells consists mostly of models reliant on additional plans.
I’ve broken down the details of the best video doorbell subscriptions, including Ring Protect , Wyze Security , and Google Home Premium . Equally as important as the hardware itself is the service you’ll be stuck using — so shop wisely and learn which is the best fit for your needs below.
Doorbell subscription plan prices compared
Depending on the doorbell you’ve chosen to adorn your entryway, the subscription plan available can start as low as $3 a month. Here’s a lineup of starting plans, including the picks in my guide to the best video doorbells .
Monthly price Annual price Max. cameras
Ring Solo $5 $50 1
Wyze Cam Plus $3 $30 1
Google Home Premium $10 $100 Unlimited
As with most monthly subscriptions, the monthly cost is cheaper if you pay upfront for an annual plan.
Ring subscription plans
Ring’s subscription adds smart features you can toggle to suit your needs, along with a suite of capabilities that make the doorbells worthwhile.
Sarah Saril/Business Insider
Ring video doorbells don’t technically require a monthly plan to work, but a Ring Protect subscription unlocks recorded video and most of the features that make a doorbell more useful day-to-day. The right option largely depends on how many Ring devices you own and whether you want basic video history or a more extensive home-security setup. Thankfully, its tiered pricing lets shoppers pay only for what they need, keeping costs low.
Price Devices Monitoring
Solo $5/month 1 None
Multi $10/month Unlimited None
Pro $20/month Unlimited Professional Monitoring
Virtual Security Guard $99/month Unlimited Professional, Live Video, and Dispatch requests
For one Ring doorbell or camera, the Ring Protect Solo plan costs $5 a month or $50 a year. It includes up to 180 days of event-video history, along with smart alerts for people, packages, and vehicles on compatible devices. It’s the straightforward pick for renters, apartment dwellers, or anyone with a single front-door camera. It’s a low-cost entry point that makes Ring’s quality devices easy to recommend.
Homes with multiple Ring cameras or doorbells may get more value from Ring Protect Multi, which costs $10 a month or $100 a year and covers all Ring devices at one location. It includes the same video history and smart alerts as Solo, plus an extended warranty for eligible devices, which can be a great help for parents with destructive kids or pet owners placing cameras in precarious places. For most households that simply want to save and review doorbell clips, Multi is likely the sweet spot. With the same level of coverage and features, it’s the equivalent of Google’s base plan.
Ring Protect Pro costs $20 a month or $200 a year and is geared more toward shoppers with a Ring Alarm system. In addition to Multi’s benefits, it adds 24/7 professional monitoring and advanced camera tools such as video descriptions, video search, active warnings, and Familiar Faces on compatible devices. It’s worth noting that professional monitoring is tied to Ring’s alarm setup; it does not mean someone is continuously watching your doorbell footage.
At the top end, Ring’s $99-per-month Virtual Security Guard plan adds live video monitoring by trained agents, real-time intruder deterrence, and proactive dispatch requests for eligible devices. That’s a far more specialized option than most doorbell owners need, but it may appeal to people building out a more comprehensive Ring security system. Plan features and availability can vary by device and location.
Browse all of the Ring Protect plans here .
Wyze subscription plans
Rather than unlocking basic functions, Wyze’s plans add AI-powered details and convenient cloud storage.
Sarah Saril/Business Insider
Wyze’s subscription options center on cloud recording and AI alerts rather than doorbell-only perks. While that may sound lacking compared to its competitors, it’s part of what makes the brand so enticing for shoppers: Wyze Security isn’t a necessity for proper doorbell function. That said, homes with a lot of the brand’s devices can definitely benefit from the service, especially because it’s so cheap.
Price Devices Added smart features
Cam Plus $3/month 1 Person/vehicle/package/pet/garage door, sound alerts
Cam Unlimited $10/month Unlimited Friendly faces recognition
Cam Unlimited Pro $20 Unlimited Wyze Stories, AI video search
Cam Plus costs $3 per camera per month or $30 per year. For the current Wyze Duo Cam Doorbell , it adds 14 days of cloud event history, full-length event clips, and AI alerts for people, packages, vehicles, and pets. It’s the practical pick for a shopper with one Wyze doorbell who wants to save footage (instead of fussing with a microSD card) and receive more specific alerts than a standard motion notification. The doorbell includes a free trial of Cam Plus after activation.
Cam Unlimited costs $10 a month or $100 a year and covers unlimited eligible Wyze cameras under one account. It includes Cam Plus benefits, plus Friendly Faces recognition where available, a multi-camera timeline, and self-monitoring features such as arm/disarm modes and daily activity stats. Three individual Cam Plus subscriptions total $8.97 a month, so Unlimited becomes the better value once you add a fourth device.
Cam Unlimited Pro costs $20 a month or $200 a year. It adds up to 60 days of cloud event history, Wyze Stories, AI Video Search, and a 24/7 emergency-dispatch feature that lets users request police, fire, or medical help from the app. It is not a live professional-monitoring service, making it a far less equipped, albeit cheaper, security service than its competitors.
Check out the lineup of Wyze Cam plans here .
Google subscription plans
For around-the-clock recording that most smart doorbell users need, Google Home Premium is required with the Nest Doorbell.
Sarah Saril/Business Insider
Google has streamlined its Nest subscription lineup under the Google Home Premium name, replacing Nest Aware and Nest Aware Plus. There are only two tiers, and both cover compatible cameras and doorbells in the same household for one fee. Its simple approach is attractive and means you’ll pay the same price whether you have one camera or 25.
Price Event-based history Added Gemini features
Standard $10/month 30 days Gemini Live, Help me create
Advanced $20/month 60 days Daily summaries, video search
The $10 a month Standard plan, or $100 a year, is primarily about keeping a longer record of doorstep activity. It gives Nest Doorbell owners 30 days of event video history, meaning clips are saved when the doorbell detects an important sound or motion event. Standard also unlocks additional alerts, including familiar-face and package notifications on supported hardware, while extending Gemini features to compatible Google Home speakers and displays.
For $20 a month or $200 annually, the Advanced plan adds more context rather than simply more storage. You get 60 days of event history, Gemini-generated event descriptions and daily recaps, detailed notifications, and the ability to search video history using natural-language requests. Advanced also includes 10 days of 24/7 continuous recording on compatible wired Nest cameras and wired Nest Doorbells, letting you scrub through the footage around an event instead of relying solely on an alert-triggered clip.
The distinction matters most for battery-doorbell buyers. The Nest Doorbell (battery) can use Advanced for its 60-day event history and Gemini features, but it cannot record continuously — even if you wire it for power. Unless you own a compatible wired Nest doorbell or camera and specifically want round-the-clock footage, Standard is likely the more sensible plan for a single Nest doorbell.
Learn more about which model is best for you in my guide to the best video doorbells .
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