Does Arlo Require a Subscription? (Arlo Secure Plans and Costs Explained)

Does Arlo require a subscription? No. An Arlo camera or doorbell works without one: you can watch live video, get motion alerts and talk through it for free. However, without a plan Arlo doesn’t save any video in the cloud, so the only way to record for free is an Arlo SmartHub with a USB drive or microSD card.

This guide explains what works without a subscription, how to record clips without one, what the Arlo Secure plans cost in 2026, and when it’s worth paying.

The Short Answer

• Does Arlo require a subscription: no. Arlo says its cameras and doorbells work without a plan, but they won’t save clips to the cloud.
• What’s free: live video, motion alerts and two-way audio.
• What you pay for: 60 days of cloud video, person, vehicle, animal and package alerts, activity zones and Arlo’s AI features.
• Arlo subscription cost: $9.99 a month for one camera or $19.99 a month for all your cameras (Smart Aware). The plans with professional monitoring cost $29.99 and $49.99.
• How to record without one: add an Arlo SmartHub with a USB drive or microSD card. It saves motion clips from compatible cameras, and you don’t pay anything after you buy it.

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What Works on an Arlo Camera Without a Subscription

According to Arlo, these features keep working when the free trial ends and you don’t subscribe:

• Live streaming: open the Arlo Secure app and watch live video from any camera or doorbell.
• Push notifications: an alert on your phone when the camera detects motion (or someone presses the doorbell).
• Two-way audio: hear and talk to whoever is in front of the camera.
• Auto Zoom and Tracking: on the cameras that have it, the camera zooms in on and follows a moving person or object.

So an Arlo camera without subscription fees still tells you when something moves and lets you look right away. What it doesn’t do on its own is save video. Without a plan:

• Motion clips aren’t saved to the cloud, so you can’t watch an event after it happens.
• Alerts don’t tell you whether the camera saw a person, a vehicle, an animal or a package.
• You can’t set activity zones, so a busy street or a tree moving in the wind can send you alerts all day.
• You don’t get Arlo’s AI features (Arlo Summary, Event Captions, Video Search) or emergency response.

The diagram below shows what you get for free, with a SmartHub, and with a plan.

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How to Use Arlo Without a Subscription

You can use Arlo without subscription fees and still save clips, but you need one extra device: an Arlo SmartHub. The Pro SmartHub (VMB4540) costs $99.99 and records to a USB drive. The Ultra SmartHub (VMB5000) costs $149.99 and records to a microSD card. Here’s how it works:

• Motion clips from the cameras connected to the SmartHub are saved to the drive.
• In the Arlo Secure app, you can watch the last 30 days of local clips. Older clips are still on the drive, but you have to plug it into a computer to watch them.
• The app only shows local clips when your phone is on your home Wi-Fi. To watch them away from home, Arlo recommends setting up a VPN on your router and phone.
• Local clips don’t have thumbnails, and you can’t delete them in the app.

However, not every Arlo camera works with a SmartHub. The Pro 6, Ultra (3rd Gen), Essential (3rd Gen), Essential Solar and the Video Doorbell 2K (2nd Gen) do. The Essential Pan Tilt, Essential Plug-In, Essential Indoor (3rd Gen) and Go 2 can’t connect to one, so without a plan they can only stream live video. Our guide to the best Arlo cameras compares every current model.

What confuses most people here is the remote viewing: cloud clips play anywhere, but Arlo’s local clips are mainly for watching at home. If you want an easy setup without a monthly fee, a camera with built-in storage is simpler. Our guide to the best security cameras without a subscription has the best options.

Some older Arlo cameras, such as the original Arlo Pro and Pro 2, came with free 7-day cloud storage. Arlo says owners keep it even after those cameras reach end of life, but cameras sold today don’t include it.

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Arlo Secure Plans and Prices

Arlo subscription cost depends on how many cameras you have and whether you want professional monitoring. In the US, there are four Arlo Secure plans, and paying yearly saves you up to $120 a year.

Plan	Per month	Per year	Covers	What it adds
Smart Aware (single camera)	$9.99	$95.88	One camera or doorbell	60 days of cloud video, smart alerts, activity zones, AI features
Smart Aware (unlimited)	$19.99	$215.88	All your Arlo devices	The same for every device at one address
Smart Secure	$29.99	$299.98	All your Arlo devices	Smart Aware plus 24/7 professional monitoring and emergency response
Ultra Secure	$49.99	$479.88	All your Arlo devices	Smart Secure plus 24/7 recording on up to three cameras

Smart Aware for one camera is enough if you have one camera or one doorbell. Billed yearly, it works out to $7.99 a month.

Smart Aware unlimited costs about the same as two single-camera plans, so it’s the better choice once you have two or more Arlo devices.

Smart Secure adds Threat Assessment, one-tap emergency response and 24/7 professional monitoring. However, the professional monitoring only works with an Arlo Home Security System, which you buy separately. If you want monitored sensors, our guide to the best DIY home security systems compares the options.

Ultra Secure adds 30 days of continuous 24/7 recording on up to three cameras, which must be plugged into power.

Every plan keeps video for 60 days and includes Arlo’s theft replacement program (for eligible devices) and a 15% discount on arlo.com. One plan covers one address, so a second home needs its own plan. Arlo renamed its Arlo Secure plans on September 15, 2026 (Secure Plus became Smart Aware, Secure Premium became Smart Secure) without changing the prices. Arlo has raised its prices several times, so older articles often list lower prices. Arlo’s plan comparison page shows the current prices.

Each new Arlo camera, doorbell or floodlight comes with a free one-month trial that starts when you set it up in the app. Some bundles sold by retailers include a longer plan.

Arlo costs more than its main rivals: Ring’s cheapest plan is $4.99 a month and Blink’s is $3.99. Our guides to Ring subscriptions and Blink subscriptions have those plans, and our Arlo vs Ring comparison explains the other differences.

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Is an Arlo Subscription Worth It?

For one camera, three years of Arlo Secure cost several times the price of the camera. Here’s how the options add up for an Arlo Essential (3rd Gen), using regular prices:

• Essential (3rd Gen) + Smart Aware, billed monthly: about $70 for the camera and $360 for the subscription, so $430 over three years.
• The same camera + Smart Aware, billed yearly: about $70 and $288, so $358.
• The same camera + Pro SmartHub: about $70 and $100, so $170 plus a USB drive, and nothing after that.

The diagram below shows the same numbers. With three cameras, Smart Aware unlimited costs about $650 over three years, while one SmartHub still costs $100 once.

A subscription is worth paying for if:

• You get a lot of motion alerts and only want to hear about people, vehicles or packages.
• You want to watch saved clips from anywhere without setting up a VPN.
• You want your clips saved somewhere safe, even if someone takes the SmartHub.
• You have an Arlo Home Security System and want professional monitoring.

You can skip it if you mainly want live video and motion alerts, or if your cameras work with a SmartHub and you mostly check clips at home. A Pro SmartHub costs about as much as one year of Smart Aware for one camera, and you only pay for it once. If you only want a doorbell without fees, our guide to the best doorbell cameras without a subscription has more options.

Before you cancel, download the clips you want to keep. The plan keeps working until the end of the period you paid for, and Arlo deletes your cloud recordings within 48 hours after that. If you subscribed through the App Store, you cancel it in your iPhone’s settings, not in the Arlo app.

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Arlo Cameras That Work With a SmartHub

If you’re buying Arlo and don’t want a monthly fee, start with a SmartHub and choose cameras that work with it. These cameras and the doorbell work with Alexa and Google Home, and each one comes with a one-month trial of Arlo Secure.

Arlo Pro SmartHub — Best Way to Skip the Subscription

This hub connects your Arlo cameras to your router over its own 2.4 GHz network and saves their motion clips to a USB drive (not included). Arlo says it also improves range and battery life, and some cameras, like the Essential (3rd Gen), need it to work with Apple Home. Our guide to which Arlo cameras work with HomeKit explains the setup.

Best for: anyone who wants recorded clips from Arlo cameras without a monthly fee.

Price: ~$100

Arlo Essential (3rd Gen) — Best Budget Camera

Arlo’s entry-level battery camera has 2K video, a 130-degree view, color night vision, a spotlight and a siren. The third generation connects to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and it works with the Pro SmartHub for local recording.

Best for: covering a front door, yard or driveway for less than $70.

Price: ~$70

Arlo Pro 6 — Best Outdoor Camera

The Pro 6 has 2K HDR video, a wider 160-degree view and a spotlight for color night vision. Its battery lasts up to eight months and you can swap it out, so you don’t have to take the camera down to charge it.

Best for: watching a large yard or driveway with sharper video.

Price: ~$124

Arlo Video Doorbell 2K (2nd Gen) — Best Arlo Doorbell

A 2K HDR video doorbell with a square view that shows visitors from head to toe. It runs on its battery for up to four months, or on your doorbell wires (they keep the battery charged). It only connects to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and video calls need a plan.

Best for: homes that want an Arlo doorbell to go with Arlo cameras.

Price: ~$80

For more choices, see our guide to the best outdoor security cameras.

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The Bottom Line

So, does Arlo require a subscription? Not to use it: live video, motion alerts and two-way audio are free. You do need a plan to save clips in the cloud and to get smart alerts, and at $9.99 a month for one camera, Arlo is one of the more expensive camera subscriptions. If you’d rather not pay every month, an Arlo SmartHub records clips from compatible cameras for a one-time $100, as long as you mostly watch them at home.