Blink Security Camera System Costs and Pricing

We approach buying security cameras the same way we do buying in thrift shops. We don’t go for the cheapest items. We look for good value finds – those that are high-quality but cheap. Blink already has that first part going.

We recently tested Blink and found its cameras above-average quality-wise. It has battery-powered cameras that can go for a year without needing a recharge. It has an outdoor camera that doubles as security lighting thanks to its built-in floodlight. It also offers one of the best indoor cameras we’ve seen. But is Blink a good find, price-wise?

Blink Indoor Cam

Blink Equipment Pricing and Packages: How It Compares

Blink didn’t give us a hard time picking which cameras to buy, contrary to what we went through when we tested Lorex, which offers dozens of options. Blink gave us five choices – the affordable Blink Mini indoor camera, two versions of the Blink Outdoor (Outdoor 3 and Outdoor 4), the Blink Indoor battery-powered camera, and the wired Blink Floodlight Camera.

So if you’re out shopping for a specific type of camera – let’s say, an outdoor camera for your front porch – you don’t have to compare a handful of options. You can go with either the older but still capable Blink Outdoor 3 or the flagship Blink Outdoor 4. Read our Blink review for a detailed look at each of Blink’s cameras.

In the meantime, let’s break down how much it will cost you for a one-camera Blink system.

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. However, each hub can support up to five cameras.

If you’re looking to mix and match Blink Indoor and Outdoor cameras, we recommend buying one camera with a Sync Module and then adding add-on cameras. The prices for add-on cameras are as follows:

• Blink Outdoor 3: $89.99
• Blink Outdoor 4: $109.99
• Blink Indoor: $69.99

We usually prefer hub-free cameras like the Wyze Cam we reviewed recently, but Blink’s Sync Module 2 comes with a unique extra function. It can use a local storage device. Just plug in a USB flash drive into the Sync Module 2 and the cameras will write onto the flash drive for backup local storage. That is one of Blink’s advantages over its sister brand Ring, which doesn’t record videos unless you have a cloud subscription.

Blink’s Sync Module is 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.

Blink also offers hub-free cameras – the Blink Mini for indoor use and the Wired Floodlight Camera for outdoor use. Both of these cameras don’t have batteries.

The Blink Mini plugs into an outlet and connects to Wi-Fi directly. It’s a simpler and more practical option than the Blink Indoor, as long as you’re fine with its lack of battery power. At only $35, It’s also very inexpensive compared to similar plug-in indoor cameras like the SimpliCam.

>> Learn More: SimpliCam Review

As for the $99 Wired Floodlight Camera, you’d need more than just a wall outlet. It needs to be hardwired to a junction box because it has floodlights built in. It’s similar to the Ring Floodlight Cam, but it offers person detection and motion zones to limit false alarms if you pay for a Blink cloud subscription. The Ring Floodlight Cam offers only motion zones, although it has more advanced features like radar motion detection and Bird’s Eye view simulation.

Of course, not everyone needs floodlights outdoors. If that’s the case, go with the Blink Outdoor 4. At $119.99 (including one Sync Module 2), it offers a wire-free setup, a 143-degree viewing angle (compared to 110-degree in the previous version), advanced motion detection technology, and person detection. Just note that person detection requires a cloud subscription, unlike the Nest Cam (battery) we reviewed that offers the feature right out of the box.

Blink Outdoor 4 Camera

Bundle Pricing

Chances are, you’re out to buy more than one camera. After all, you’d need both indoor and outdoor cameras to cover the ground of your house. Plus, with the limited viewing angle of the Blink cameras (except the Outdoor 4), you might need more than one camera to monitor your front yard.

The good news is you get to save if you buy into the whole Blink lineup. Blink offers multi-camera kits, and they come with discounts. Let’s say you’re buying three Blink Outdoor 4s. That’s $119.99 for the first one including the Sync Module 2 and $109.99 each for the two other cameras. Total? $339.97. The three-camera Outdoor 4 kit, on the other hand, costs only $269.99. You save $70, which is exactly the cost of a Blink Indoor – take the savings or use it to boost your home security.

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.

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:

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.

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,1 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.

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.