Video doorbell without monthly fee…..

Just seen this thread and wonder if anyone can help as I’ve just started looking. I don’t know if this exists but I just need an indoor camera pointing at my front door. I live in a shared block and we can't have doorbell cameras.

Something I can activate when going out, linked to my phone that will give alerts if someone enters the property and then record. Chimes/Alarm sounds or lights would also great – but I’m not sure if these exist. Not to sure about wifi so would like a plug in camera preferably without subscription.

Any personal recommendations on Ring, Efuy, SimpliSafe or Tapo. Would I need a new phone as have heard about dual sim cards and SD cards.

That's literally what I said. No recording only live view. So no.

You do not have to have a subscription, but you have limited functionality, which if fine for people who just want to check who's at the door before answering

@Jc2001yes yoh absolutely have to pay a subscription with ring be it monthly or annually. You can’t record or look at missed calls/motion without it, you can’t record only view live viewings

I have the first generation eufy and find there’s a delay between a person ringing and the doorbell connecting. By the time I log in, the persons half way down the road! Anyone else find this?

Tapo, because I already had their smart plugs and two other cameras and know they work well. Buy an SD card for about £12 and it will record and save and you can access it from your phone.
It’s rechargeable, I installed it in November and it’s now down to 24% so I’ll need to charge it for a couple of hours soon.
The doorbell doesn’t pick up as much as my indoor camera (focused on the cat food bowls) but I’m not sure if that’s because of the settings, I didn’t want it going off every time a car goes past. I’ve been able to speak to a delivery person and ask them to leave things, I’m because it rings through my phone I never miss it (I’m deaf and sometimes didn’t hear someone knocking).

Tapo here, has an SD card to record and you can download anything you'd want to keep. Came with a chime too.

We returned our Eufy less than a month after getting it. It was dire. Sounds like we were unlucky but it was so poor. Have gone back to ring and happily paying subscription.

I'd like a statement where any records are not sent 'into the cloud' / to some faceless place. Can I do that ?

We have Ubiquiti, it has no fees and we have multiple cameras and a video doorbell. It works well and you can view it anywhere from your phone.

Another vote for EUFY they’re one of the cheaper on the market, easy to set up, app is really easy to use and you can use it with an SD card instead of a subscription. I have the door bell and an external camera covering the back garden both work very well and images are really clear.

We have a Eufy aswell - has proved reliable for over 2 years so far.

I have AOSU and am very happy with it.
Good quality picture, picks up movement really well, rechargeable device that just needs a C type lead.
Easy to fit, easy to recharge, no fees!!

I like it so much, I got an AOSU camera for the side of my property and that's great too, although that is hardwired to the mains.

My outside cameras have 2 AA batteries which last about 18 months. They send images and video via WiFi to my phone and record onto the usb for permanent sake keeping. I can delete them if needed.

Camera mounted outside on the door frame.

Rechargeable battery or can be connected to existing bell wiring.

Footage saved in the app.

Apologies for the stupid questions 😄 -

Are the cameras inside the house rather than outside?
How are they powered?
How do they save footage? Are they attached to something?

And yet another very satisfied Eufy user!

Another vote for Eufy!
We bought the E340 in December and are very happy with it. 2 cameras, one for faces and one for packages. Battery life is good and the app works well.
Small downside: it's listed as working with Google assistant but that's no longer the case as Google changed some back end stuff. So we had to buy a chime as well, chime has additional storage for clips so it was a bonus. Everything was on deal so it was £100 for both.

This is photo from my door bell

Aosu is a good one. Rechargeable and a good picture. I bought mine from Amazon.

I’ve got a Tapo, popped an sd card in and that’s it. Comes complete with chime, you can adjust the camera angle, the area it covers, people,pet and vehicle detection. Was only £42 and I’m really happy with it

Just get a camera that links to an app on your phone. There's no need for,a,subscription and it doesn't have to be a "doorbell " camera.

Can I please piggyback on your thread and ask whether anyone has smoke alarms on the same app as their video doorbell?

Eufy , we also added a couple of cameras and a light over time. It's great

Eufy here too