Many smart home devices offer subscription plans that can add additional features. Some of these subscription plans are worth the price for what you get, but there are plenty of smart home devices that can actually do more without a subscription.
Many smart security cameras come with subscriptions that offer a wide range of features. Several popular brands require a subscription to access key features. With an Arlo camera, for example, you need to pay to access video history, smart zones, package detection, video search, and more.
With Arlo, even with a Premium subscription that can cost as much as $49.99 per month, you only get 60-day video history. If you want to see what happened 61 days ago, you're out of luck.
The alternative is to set up your own local storage system. Some camera models offer their own network video recorders (NVRs) that can store your recordings in your home. You can replicate this without a subscription by using a self-hosted NVR such as Frigate.
Using local storage, the amount of video history that you keep is only limited by the amount of storage space you have. You can keep far more than 60 days of history and not have to pay a thing.
The other major benefit of opting for a local system rather than a subscription is that your video recordings stay on your local network. You don't have to worry about the view from every security camera in your home ending up on a third-party server.
Video doorbells are another common example of smart home products that often offer subscription plans. You may need a subscription plan for features such as person and package detection, for extended live viewing of your doorbell feed, or even to use more than one doorbell camera.
A video doorbell with local storage and no subscription can give you far more access to your video history. As long as you have space to store the video, you can access history from as far back as you want, completely for free.
Smart garage door openers take a useful device and make it even more useful. A smart garage door opener can allow you to open your garage door remotely, give you real-time alerts when your garage door is opened or closed, guest access, in-car controls, and more.
Some garage door openers include integrated cameras. These cameras can require subscriptions to access event history, motion detection, package detection, and more.
You don't need to pay for these features, however. With a cheap camera and a local NVR such as Frigate, you can get motion detection and event history without a subscription, and potentially keep that history for far longer than a subscription allows.
One big reason to steer clear of these cloud-based services is that they may not always be available. Chamberlain blocked the API that was used by Home Assistant to control garage door openers that worked through the myQ integration. People who had built automations around this API were suddenly unable to use them.
If you want an alarm system that is professionally monitored, then you're going to need to pay a subscription fee. There's no free local solution that can fully match a monitored alarm system.
If you don't need that service, however, then you can set up an alarm system that can work better than many subscription-based alarm systems. For example, with a Ring Alarm, you need a subscription just to be able to arm and disarm your alarm through the app. If you don't have a subscription, you can't even turn your alarm on or off using your phone.
Even with a subscription, you're usually limited to a relatively small range of compatible products. If you have some IKEA contact sensors, for example, you won't be able to use them with your Ring Alarm system.
