Best Doorbell Cameras 2025: Reviewed by Home Security Experts

SimpliSafe’s Video Doorbell Pro has three features that made our daily home security routine safer and less of a hassle: smart motion detection, crisp two-way audio, and Active Guard Outdoor Protection, which was like having a private security guard posted outside our front door 24/7. The Video Doorbell Pro also gets high scores in ease of installation. It took us under an hour to get all our equipment set up, making SimpliSafe one of best DIY security systems we’ve tested.

>> Check Out: SimpliSafe Home Security System Review

Features

Our three favorite Simplisafe security features, point by point:

• Smart motion detection gives SimpliSafe cameras an edge at telling real threats from everyday front door activity; handy for busy front doors.
• Crisp two-way audio lets our SimpliSafe doorbell double as a reliable intercom.
• Active Guard Outdoor Protection lets SimpliSafe access our doorbell camera feed when it detects prowlers. They could speak directly to trespassers and even sound a siren as an extra precaution.

>> Also: SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera Review

Subscription

You don’t need a monitoring plan to use the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro. You’ll get motion alerts and be able to livestream footage in the SimpliSafe app. But if you want video recordings — and access to the Active Guard feature — you’ll need a paid subscription. Whatever you decide, switching between plans is easy, which is why SimpliSafe made our best no-contract home security list.

Here’s a brief rundown of SimpliSafe’s plans.

Installation Options

If you already have a video doorbell and have some electrical experience, installing the Video Doorbell Pro isn’t challenging. We found SimpliSafe’s step-by-step instructions and video guide helpful, and got everything set up in under 30 minutes.

That said, if this is your first video doorbell, you should probably consider professional installation. SimpliSafe offers this service starting from $125.

ADT partnered with Google to offer the Google Nest Video Doorbell with ADT’s home security systems. When we reviewed ADT, the Nest Doorbell gave us high quality video and audio, smart features such as facial recognition, and access to ADT’s Trusted Neighbor feature. We also got to use it with other security features such as ADT professional monitoring.

>> Read More: The Best Professionally Installed Home Security Systems

Features

These are Nest Doorbell Camera’s stand-out features in our tests:

• With facial recognition your camera learns people’s faces and could tell you who’s at the front door. You can combine this with ADT’s Trusted Neighbor.
• ADT’s Trusted Neighbor assigns security permissions to people you trust. For instance, we used the feature to let our dog-walker in every Thursday between 10:30 AM and 11 AM.
• Smart home integration with other Google products makes ADT one of the best smart home security systems we’ve tested.

Subscription

Google’s Nest Aware subscription unlocks facial recognition and gives you 30 days of recorded video history, but that’s not needed if you sign up for ADT professional monitoring. We got Nest Aware when we bought ADT’s Complete plan ($49.99 per month). That plan also linked our entire security system with ADT’s professional monitoring service. In our experience, ADT has the most reliable monitoring in the industry with 12 redundant monitoring centers.

>> Check Out: ADT Current Deals and Discounts

Installation

We found ADT’s doorbell easier to install than that of SimpliSafe because it’s battery-powered. It took us only five minutes after charging the Nest Doorbell overnight. Keep in mind, though, that we tested the ADT Self Setup system. If you go with a professionally installed ADT system, a technician will have to do it for you and it won’t be free. Professional installation starts at around $100.

The Ring Wired Doorbell Pro (previously the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2) is our favorite among Ring’s complete line of video doorbells. It’s got a wide 150-degree field of view, crisp night vision, and 1536p HD video quality with person detection to distinguish humans from animals, vehicles, and packages.

These specs make the it a little pricier than a Google Nest Doorbell or SimpliSafe’s Video Doorbell Pro, but if you’re looking for extra front-door security, this Ring security camera is worth the splurge.

Features

Ring doorbells have sophisticated technology under the hood:

• 3D Motion Detection allows the Wired Video Doorbell Pro to detect and track the movement of incoming visitors quick enough to get full footage of their entrances and exits.
• Bird’s Eye View literally maps out visitors’ paths to your front door with a dotted line. If you’ve had snoopers, or a break-in, you can see where the intruders came from, and tighten up security accordingly.
• Alexa integrates seamlessly with the Wired  Pro and can greet, take messages, or give delivery instructions.This feature isn’t free, however. You’ll need a Ring Home plan, which includes cloud storage.

Subscription

Just like SimpliSafe’s doorbell camera, Ring video doorbells work without a subscription if you’re okay being limited to motion alerts and live feeds. Recordings require a subscription to Ring Home.

The good news is, Ring Home plans are affordable. If you have just one video doorbell, it costs $4.99 per month to store event clips for up to 180 days. You can keep videos in the cloud for six times as long as Nest Aware allows. If you have multiple Ring doorbell and security cameras, we recommend that Ring Home Plus plan. It costs $9.99 per month and covers unlimited cameras.

>> Read More: 2024 Package Theft Annual Report and Statistics

Installation

Installing the Ring Wired Doorbell Pro is a DIY project. We managed it in under an hour, but you will need a 16 to 24 VAC transformer. If you don’t already have an existing doorbell setup or provisions for one, you can still use a power adapter, though this might require extra drilling. If you have any questions about your installation, we recommend getting in touch with an electrician or a Ring partner like HelloTech.

The Wyze Video Doorbell is probably the most clunky device on this list, but what it lacks in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in value. For less than $30, you get 1080p video with a 120-degree viewing angle. The Wyze doorbell also has color night vision via its Starlight CMOS sensor. If you want to add cloud storage, the Cam Plus plan starts at $2.99 per month for a single camera, making it one of the most affordable camera options on this list.

Features

With a price tag under $30, the no-frills Wyze Video Doorbell gives you a doorbell with an HD camera connected to your Wi-Fi. If you want more advanced features like facial recognition, we recommend sticking with the Google Nest Doorbell through ADT (above.)

We liked Wyze’s 3:4 aspect ratio, giving us a full head-to-toe view of anyone standing in front of our door. However, the Wyze Doorbell’s camera does have its blindspots. If someone were to creep along the front of our house, they could probably evade detection.

Subscription

You don’t need a subscription to use the Wyze Video Doorbell, but we recommend getting at least the $2.99-per-month Cam Plus plan to access recordings. It’s even cheaper than Ring’s Basic subscription. On top of that, the Wyze plans unlock smarter alerts through AI-powered person, package, and vehicle detection. Those features may not be as advanced as Nest’s facial recognition, but you won’t find them in doorbell cameras as affordable as the Wyze Video Doorbell.

Here’s a breakdown of Wyze’s plans.

Installation

The Wyze Doorbell connects right to your existing doorbell setup, so if you already have the provisions in place, you’re set. It takes a few extra minutes and some know-how to get the wiring right, but this is our recommended security approach.

The Nest Doorbell is the best doorbell camera we tested with facial recognition. This made our front door security significantly smarter. When we connected our Nest Doorbell to our smart lock, for instance, we could open the door for our dog walker. Just note that you’ll need a Nest Aware subscription if you want a similar set-up. However, at $8 per month for all your Nest cameras and 30 days of cloud storage, Nest Aware is one of the cheaper cloud subscriptions we’ve tested.

Features

Our Nest Doorbell worked great as a standalone device, but because it’s a Google product, it also worked as part of our larger Nest camera system with both our Google Nest Hub smart display and our Google Nest Mini smart speaker.

As you’d expect, the Nest Doorbell also works seamlessly with Google Assistant voice commands. A simple question like “Google, what’s on our doorbell?” would wake the camera and show us live streaming video.

Subscription

For full professional monitoring, you’ll need to use your Google Nest Doorbell with ADT (see above), but with a cheap Nest Aware plan, you can still take advantage of the Nest’s facial recognition. This feature cuts down on unnecessary notifications and gives automatic access to people you trust, including your kids, when paired with a smart lock.

A Nest Aware subscription will also give you 30 days worth of cloud storage. Nest Aware costs $8 per month; the more advanced Nest Aware Plus costs $15. Here’s a breakdown of the two services.

Video Quality

The Nest doorbell’s 1280p HD video resolution beats the industry standard and the more expensive Ring Wired Doorbell Pro, even if the squarish field of vision doesn’t give you as much real estate. The Nest Doorbell’s infrared night vision uses 850nm LED sensors, which allowed us to see quite well at night, too. See below for a side-by-side comparison.

The Arlo Video Doorbell is another solid option for smart front door monitoring with person, vehicle, and package detection for a little as $7.99 per month per camera. Arlo’s stand-out feature is package detection, which identified packages with 100 percent accuracy in our tests.

Features

The Arlo Doorbell uses artificial intelligence to identify people, pets, and packages. Its package recognition accuracy made it a particularly valuable security tool against porch pirates. We got alerts when packages were dropped off and picked up from our front porch. However, to enable this feature, we needed to sign up for a subscription.

Subscription

The bad news is that Arlo subscriptions are on the pricey side. It already costs $7.99 for one camera, compared to Nest Aware that covers unlimited Nest doorbells and security cameras for about the same price. You get a longer event history of up to 60 days, but then again, Ring offers 180 days of video history for only $4.99 per camera.

The redeeming factor is that you get 15 percent off on future Arlo purchases if you have a subscription. If you plan on building out a comprehensive Arlo system, a subscription will save you a lot of money.

Installation

Unfortunately, Arlo doesn’t have an installation service like ADT or SimpliSafe does. That said, Arlo’s doorbells are easy to install, even if you have to wire one. If you’re not confident or haven’t done this kind of installation before, we recommend hiring a professional.

The Logitech Circle View Doorbell has industry-standard HD video with a wide 160-degree viewing angle, echo cancellation (for clearer conversations), and color night vision. Impressively, the Logitech Circle View is one of the only video doorbells we’ve tested that works with HomeKit, Apple’s smart home ecosystem, leveraging iCloud for video storage.

Features

It’s not the most feature-rich doorbell camera out there, but the Logitech Circle View has these features going for it:

• Color Night Vision. The Circle View’s infrared night vision, combined with its 4000K LED light strip, gave quality color footage even at night.
• Motion Detection. In our tests, the Circle View accurately distinguished between vehicles, inanimate objects, and moving animals/humans.

Subscription

Logitech doesn’t currently have any monitoring plans. This means zero additional monthly fees. However, it can still record event footage and save it in your iCloud drive. That’s a positive if you’re already an iCloud user, especially if you have an iCloud+ subscription.

Another thing to note is that unlike Ring, Nest, and most other brands on this list, recordings won’t be deleted after a set number of days. As long as you have iCloud storage space, you can keep your Logitech video doorbell recordings for as long as you want.

Installation

You can get your Logitech doorbell professionally installed for a $100 fee. However, the process is pretty straightforward so we went the DIY route, connecting the AC adapter to our existing doorbell wiring and attaching the chime kit to our existing chime wiring. It took us about a half hour.

The Lorex 1080p HD Wired Doorbell is a final hardwired option that, at $79.99, is considerably cheaper than most doorbells on this list. The Lorex also has local storage via a microSD card, but no professional monitoring or cloud storage options. So, from installation to streaming, this is a truly DIY doorbell.

Features

The Lorex 1080p Wired Video Doorbell is small and unobtrusive (4 by 1.7 inches) Video quality is high with a wide 160-degree field of vision, infrared night vision, two-way audio, and up to 64GB of local storage.

>> Read More: Lorex Security Cameras Features and Pricing

Subscription

Like Logitech, Lorex doesn’t offer professional monitoring services or cloud storage. Instead of Logitech’s iCloud storage, though, Lorex stores videos locally. This approach has pros and cons. On the upside, you don’t have to pay a subscription and your videos are stored onsite. This significantly reduces the risk of privacy breaches. On the other hand, local storage can get corrupted, destroyed, or stolen.

Installation

In general, we prefer hardwired video doorbell systems for one simple reason: no batteries required. Fortunately, installing the Lorex Video Doorbell was generally hassle-free. However, as with our other top picks, if you haven’t done this before, you might want to call an electrician.