Blink Security Camera System Costs and Pricing
Blink's lineup of security cameras includes the Indoor, Outdoor, and Mini.
- No long-term contracts
- Impressive two-year battery life
- Affordable home security
When buying security cameras, we recommend picking one brand and sticking to it. That way, you can monitor your entire home from just one app and you’ll only need to pay for one cloud subscription for video storage. There are lots of brands to choose from. There’s Lorex with its massive lineup of cameras; Arlo with its wireless options; Ring with security cameras and video doorbells; and Google Nest with cameras backed by A.I.
There’s one brand though that gets less attention than those options but actually offers solid features and reliable hardware. It’s called Blink, and in case you didn’t know, it’s an Amazon-owned brand, just like Ring.
Having personally tested most of its cameras, we can say that Blink offers a good value. It makes high-quality hardware backed by an app that works as promised. It’s simple, efficient, and user-friendly. We also know that it’s not a perfect security camera system. Some of its cameras are too simple to do anything besides record and stream. Others are lacking in must-have features like person detection.
Blink is a good security camera brand, but is it the right one for you?
Does Blink Offer Enough Options?
Blink offers several types of cameras, but we’ve tested other brands that offer a wider variety of options, such as cameras with facial recognition, continuous recording, and built-in smart lighting. Check out how Blink cameras compare to options from top brands in our Blink vs. Ring and Blink vs. Arlo comparison guides. And see our top picks that edge out Blink in various categories:
Blink Equipment Pricing and Packages: How It Compares
Blink makes the buying process simple. It doesn’t offer a lot of options — in fact, there are only four options — but each camera has something unique to offer. There’s an ultra-affordable mini indoor camera, two versions of the Blink Outdoor line (Blink Outdoor 3 and 4), a similar-looking battery-powered indoor camera, and a wired outdoor camera with built-in floodlights.
Want to hear our thoughts on each Blink camera? Read our full Blink security camera review for a more detailed look.
In the meantime, let’s break down how much it will cost you for a one-camera Blink system.
One-camera starter kit | Price |
---|---|
Blink Indoor | $79.99 |
Blink Outdoor 3 | $99.99 |
Blink Mini | $34.99 |
Blink Outdoor 4 | $119.99 |
Blink Wired Floodlight Camera | $99.99 |
A Closer Look Into The Blink Lineup
One crucial thing to note is that the Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor 3 and 4 all require a hub to work. The prices listed above for these three models include one Sync Module 2, which is the hub, but each hub can support up to five cameras. If you’re planning to mix and match Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor cameras, it’s better to buy one of the multi-camera systems available from Amazon. Another option is to buy one camera with a Sync Module 2 included, and then purchase add-on cameras. The prices are as follows:
- Blink Outdoor 3: $89.99
- Blink Outdoor 4: $109.99
- Blink Indoor: $69.99
Although we prefer cameras that don’t require hubs, like the Wyze Cam (read our Wyze camera review here), there are actually some benefits to using cameras with hubs. One of those benefits is local storage.
Blink, like its sister company Ring, requires a cloud subscription to store video. But unlike Ring, you have the additional option to plug a USB flash drive into the Blink Sync Module 2 and use it as local video storage. With that kind of set up, you don’t need to pay a monthly fee for video storage.
That’s actually similar to how base stations from Arlo camera packages and eufy camera bundles work. Those are two of the best wireless camera brands, so in a way, Blink works similarly as some of the industry leaders.
If you’re looking for a hub-free setup, Blink’s cheapest option might be more your taste. The Blink Mini sells for just $35 – no hub included, but doesn’t need one. It connects to your home Wi-Fi directly. The catch? It’s indoor-only. Between it and the Blink Indoor, though, we think the Blink Mini makes more sense practicality-wise, as long as you’re fine with its lack of a battery. But if you want a battery-powered indoor camera, go with the Blink Indoor. At $79, it’s still more affordable than most indoor cameras, including the $99 SimpliCam.
>> Learn More: SimpliCam Review
For outdoor security, Blink’s only hub-free option is the Wired Floodlight Camera. It’s a $99 camera that offers excellent features for half the price of the Ring Floodlight Cam, a similar option from Ring. It offers motion zones to help limit false alarms, and if you pay for a cloud subscription, it also provides person detection. Ring’s floodlight camera may have motion zones, but it can’t distinguish people and pets like the Blink camera can.
Our problem with the Blink Floodlight Camera is that it’s not a simple plug-in camera. You’ll need to hardwire it into an electrical box. It’s not an all-purpose outdoor camera because of that, plus not every outdoor space needs a camera with floodlights. You wouldn’t want to blind your guests with a floodlight camera on your front porch, would you? We find the Blink Outdoor more versatile than the Floodlight Camera.
The Blink Outdoor is also really affordable compared to other outdoor cameras, at $99.99. The Nest Cam (battery), for example, costs $179. It’s also an indoor/outdoor camera that runs on batteries, although it has more advanced features than the Blink Outdoor. For example, out-of-the-box, the Nest Cam (battery) can identify moving objects as people, animals, or vehicles. It can also recognize faces if paired with Google Nest’s cloud storage subscription, Nest Aware.
>> Read About: Nest Cam (battery) Review
As for the newer Blink Outdoor 4, it’s the only camera that costs over $100 from Blink, but it improves on the Blink Outdoor 3’s motion detection. It also has a much wider field of view – 143-degrees versus the Blink Outdoor 3’s 110-degree view. Lastly, with a subscription, it can offer person detection, for which the other Blink cameras don’t have an option.
Bundle Pricing
With Blink’s already affordable pricing, it’s hard to imagine saving even more, but that’s actually possible. If you buy into the whole lineup and purchase multiple cameras as parts of multi-camera kits, you’ll save even more.
Add-On Camera Price | 1 Camera Kit Price | 2 Camera Kit Price | 3 Camera Kit Price | 5 Camera Kit Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blink Indoor | $69.99 | $79.99 | $139.99 | $189.99 | $279.99 |
Blink Outdoor 3 | $89.99 | $99.99 | $179.99 | $249.99 | $329.99 |
Blink Outdoor 4 | $109.99 | $119.99 | $199.99 | $269.99 | $399.99 |
Blink Mini | $34.99 | $34.99 | $64.99 (without cloud/local storage) | n/a | n/a |
Blink Wired Floodlight Cam | $99.99 | $99.99 | $198.99 | $298.98 | $499.95 |
Blink Pricing: Monitoring and Storage
With the Blink Wired Floodlight Camera, Outdoor, Indoor, and Mini, we chose from one of two subscription plans: the Basic plan for $3 per month, or the Plus plan for $10 per month.
Both offer 60 days of cloud storage, which is quite generous in our view. That 60-day cloud storage means the cameras will record every motion event and keep the clips in the cloud for 60 days. During that time, you can download or share important clips.
Technically, we could have skipped the subscription option and paid nothing after the initial equipment costs. By not signing up for a subscription, we still got motion alerts and access to live footage. But we wouldn’t have been able to store, share, or download video. That would have also meant no person detection for the Blink Outdoor 4 and the Wired Floodlight Cam.
Alternatively, we had the option of inserting a USB flash drive into the Blink Sync Module 2 and storing our video footage locally. But we like that Blink still keeps cloud video storage costs low. Blink’s Basic plan costs the same per month as the Ring Protect Basic plan for Ring cameras.
As Amazon owns both companies, we doubt this is a coincidence. Add more cameras, and the cost goes up to $10 a month, again, the exact same prices as Ring.
Package Features | Basic | Plus |
---|---|---|
No. of devices supported | 1 | Unlimited |
Motion-activated notifications | Yes | Yes |
Live streaming | Yes | Yes |
60-day video history | Yes | Yes |
Video sharing | Yes | Yes |
10% discount on Blink products | No | Yes |
Warranty coverage | 1 year | As long as subscription is active |
Monthly price | $3 | $10 |
While we wish Blink gave us at least some free cloud storage without a subscription, with Blink, local video storage is still an affordable and convenient option. Plus, users can get a 30-day free trial of the Blink Plus subscription with the purchase of a Blink Mini, Blink Outdoor, or Blink Indoor camera.
In our opinion, Blink’s cloud plans are reasonable. We encourage buying a subscription to store videos in the cloud; that’s safer than relying on just local recording. Another reason why you should go for a cloud subscription is person detection. The Blink Outdoor 4 and the Wired Floodlight Cam both offer person detection, which can greatly reduce false alarms and improve notifications, but only if you’re on a cloud subscription plan. If you’re not on one, they’ll detect any movement – even passing cars, animals, and sometimes even shifting shadows.
Accessories
In addition to its cameras, Blink also offers mounting brackets, silicone skins, and USB flash drives as separate accessories. Take a look at our Blink accessories breakdown:
Product | Price |
---|---|
Blink Sync Module 2 add-on | $34.99 |
Blink USB flash drive | $14.99 |
Blink Outdoor camera protective cover and mounting bracket | $19.99 |
Blink Indoor/Outdoor mount (pack of 3) | $18.99 |
Blink yard sign and 2 window decals | $30 |
Blink window decals (pack of 3) | $8.99 |
Blink silicone camera skin for Indoor and Outdoor cameras – Black | $9.99 |
Blink silicone camera skin for Indoor and Outdoor cameras – White | $9.99 |
THE MORE YOU KNOW: Security signs can deter burglars from choosing a house to rob, along with the proximity to other people and dogs.1 In other words, they’re an affordable way to up your home’s security in a flash.
Blink’s Best Features
We think that Blink cameras are worth their prices, and here’s why:
- 1080p HD video quality: All five Blink cameras record video in 1080p.
- Two-way audio: The Blink Mini, Blink Indoor, and Blink Outdoor cameras have two-way audio, letting us speak to whomever we were looking at, which could have come in handy during an intrusion.
- Infrared night vision: Blink cameras come equipped with infrared LED sensors, which let us see clearly in black-and-white at night.
- Alexa integrations: All of the cameras work with Alexa, which lets us control them with our voices.
- Long battery life: The wireless, battery-powered Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor cameras have two-year battery lives, which is the longest we’ve seen from wireless home security cameras.
- Free app: We used the Blink Home Monitor app with all of our Blink cameras to live-stream footage and receive motion detection alerts, all without paying monthly fees.
Tip: The Blink Mini is the only camera in Blink’s trio that requires a power cord. Be sure to consider proximity to power outlets when you’re deciding where to install the Blink Mini.
Alexa, IFTTT, and Blink
Since Amazon owns Blink, the fact that all of Blink’s cameras work with Alexa makes perfect sense. We downloaded the Blink SmartHome skill on our Echo Show 8 because sometimes our smartphones are just too far away. Using our voices alone, we could have Alexa show our cameras’ footage on different Echo devices and hide it when we were done.
We could also tell Alexa to show us the cameras’ last activities, arm or disarm the camera system (the latter of which requires a PIN for security), and tell us when the latest motion alert was, the number of motion clips, our arming/ disarming schedule, or our current system status. Alexa even told us when the batteries were getting low and helped us to reorder new ones so that we never missed a day without our Blink cameras. That’s where that whole “being owned by Amazon” thing really comes in handy!
On top of that, we set our Blink cameras so that our Echo devices, including our Echo Dot with Clock and Echo Flex smart speakers, told us whenever our cameras detected motion. For us, this meant that even if we left our phones downstairs overnight, our alarm clock would let us know if our downstairs cameras detected motion while we were sleeping. This capability gave us the added assurance that if someone broke into our home, we’d know as soon as possible.
Taking it a step further, since we have smart lights downstairs, we set up a routine that had our lamps turn on as soon as the Blink cameras detected motion, making the would-be burglar very conspicuous.
All three Blink cameras work with IFTTT,2 which means that they could trigger or be triggered by a whole slew of Internet of Things devices. The IFTTT compatibility expanded our voice commands to even our Google Home Hub, so although there isn’t a direct Google action for Blink, the cameras can still work within a Google smart home ecosystem.
See how Blink measures up in the industry
Wondering if Blink is right for you? We squared it up with the best systems available to help you make a smart decision.
Recap
All in all, Blink provides decent home security at affordable prices. Blink’s Indoor, Outdoor, Mini, and Wired Floodlight cameras are all reasonably priced and perfect for folks on a budget. Without a subscription, users can still access live video and turn on motion alerts from the Blink Home Monitor app. With monthly cloud storage fees as low as $3, Blink’s subscriptions are inexpensive compared to rivals in the industry.
However, if Blink doesn’t seem right for you, we recommend checking out our list of the most affordable security cameras, which includes Blink, among other fantastic options.
UNC Charlotte. (2018). Burglar Survey Study Final Report.
airef.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BurglarSurveyStudyFinalReport.pdfIFTTT. (2020). Blink. ifttt.com/blink