A smart home should also be a secure home but, thanks to a number of privacy and security issues — not to mention dubious parent companies with shady ties to hostile governments — finding a product that fits the bill has gotten harder than ever.
While Eufy was long one of our favorite brands to recommend, recent events have broken our trust in Eufy's reputation and may very well have shaken yours, as well. Additionally, Eufy has changed its security claims since the incidents in November, further eroding trust in the brand's ability to hold good to its promises.
If you're feeling uneasy about Eufy Security products and are looking for some good Eufy alternatives, we've got a few ideas that should fit. Whether you bought into Eufy because of the low price or love the idea of storing footage locally and avoiding the cloud, these are the best Eufy alternatives we recommend.
Here are the best Eufy camera alternatives
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Of all the recommendations on this list, Arlo's cameras are the closest you'll find to Eufy's in most ways. Like Eufy, Arlo cameras can store footage locally on a hub with Direct Storage so long as you purchase the right one. Specifically, you'll want to pick up an Arlo SmartHub model VMB5000 or VMB4540 which both support local storage similar to Eufy's hubs.
Like Eufy, you won't need a subscription to store all camera footage in an Arlo hub, and all footage is accessible via the Arlo app on your smartphone so long as you have one of the two supported hubs above. Older hubs require you to hook the hub or USB drive up to a computer to see the footage.
Beyond that, Arlo's cameras are a bit more expensive than most Eufy cameras but can often be purchased in bundles at places like Amazon and Best Buy for a slight discount. You'll also need a subscription if you want better than just plain old motion detection. Arlo Smart plans offer people, package, animal, and vehicle detection plus advanced notifications but only operate out of the cloud.
Arlo integrates brilliantly with all major smart home systems including Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit. Viewing your Arlo camera footage on a Google Nest smart display is as easy as saying "Hey Google, show me the front door camera," or whatever name you assigned to the camera you want to view.
Camera quality is often better than Eufy's cameras, too, offering up 2K or 4K video depending on which Arlo model you get. In the Arlo Pro 4's case, you'll get high-quality 2K HDR video and a super wide 160-degree field of view. It's even got color night vision thanks to the built-in spotlight. Again, just like Eufy cameras.
Most Arlo cameras also operate totally wirelessly and, like Eufy cameras, last months on a single charge. Arlo also uses super nice magnetic mounts, making them even easier to detach and recharge than Eufy's mounts.
Since the rocky 2021 launch, Google has substantially upgraded its latest Nest cameras. The Google Home software has been refined and upgraded, the camera's wonky people detection has been ironed out, and many of the bugs and other problems we ran into at launch have been flat-out fixed.
Because of all that, Google's Nest Cam (battery) is very easy to recommend to anyone not wanting to pay a subscription for Google's best features. Out of the box, Nest Cam (battery) offers 3-hours of video history for free. It's also able to deliver specific notifications when it detects people, animals, packages, or vehicles thanks to onboard processing. If your power goes out or your internet connection goes down, the camera is able to store up to 1-hour of footage onboard so you don't miss a beat when the connection is back up.
To note, that onboard storage isn't accessible and there's no way to have it permanently store footage locally so if that's the only way you'll have it, here's where you get off the train.
It also doesn't have any kind of onboard spotlight so be sure not to place it in any area that's super dark. Sure, it's got infrared night vision but that's only so good and can't replace a proper spotlight. Alternatively, Google does sell a version of its Nest Cam with a big old spotlight onboard if that's a requirement.
If you're willing to pay for a monthly subscription, Google's Nest Aware plans offer up Familiar Face detection which can identify specific individuals when they appear on the camera. It also offers 24/7 recording capabilities, but you'll need to hardwire it to power if you want to take advantage of that.
Kasa makes some of the best smart home devices at both excellent prices and quality. This affordable security camera comes packed with a ton of great features, including IP65 weatherproofing, crisp 2K image resolution, color night vision, two-way audio, and up to 256GB microSD card capacity for a ton of on-device, local storage.
The Kasa Outdoor Security Camera camera offers a pretty robust experience, with the ability to set up alerts and view live and on-demand video. The camera also has an integrated LED spotlight that you can trigger manually or set to turn on when a person or motion is detected. This has proven a wonderful feature and is why I love using it on my patio.
While you can put up to a 256GB microSD card in the device, you can check out their cloud service with a 30-day trial of Kasa Care, should you wish to try out that option before committing to a subscription plan.
The loud motion detection alarm can scare away any intruder, but you can also carry on a conversation with visitors thanks to its two-way audio capability. But to avoid too many notifications, you can set custom activity zones so you won't be bothered by false notifications from trees swaying in the breeze.
The GE Cync Outdoor Wired Smart Camera is one of only two cameras offered by the American brand, and while it doesn't offer any kind of battery-powered option, it does offer true local storage from a trusted company.
Drop a microSD card in the camera and you'll have a great wired option to store local footage on. The downside here is that it's stored on the camera itself and not a central storage hub so, in the bizarre event that someone steals the camera, your footage will also be lost if you don't subscribe to the Cync cloud.
Cync Outdoor Camera also offers basic people detection features without requiring a subscription but the company's motion detection isn't as reliable as brands like Arlo or Google. Still, it's about on par with what you can expect from most Eufy cameras and even offers customizable motion zones so you can keep spam motion detection notifications to a minimum.
This one packs quality 1080p feed and infrared-lit nightvision but doesn't have an onboard spotlight. The Cync app makes it easy to view all your cameras in one glance though, and it also ties in nicely with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
If you're someone heavily invested in the Amazon smart home ecosystem and its Alexa smart voice assistant, Blink is a great choice. It's even good if you've got a mixed smart home ecosystem, even if it doesn't tie in with Google Home or Assistant at all.
Blink's biggest claim to fame is its fabled 2-year battery life on just two AA batteries. That includes normal motion detection and surviving harsh Summer and Winter weather, too. I've used them in my home for years and love how simple they are. You can even store footage locally with a Blink Sync Module, keeping all your footage off the cloud completely. A cloud subscription plan is available if you want, though.
You can carry on two-way conversations and monitor the feed through your Blink or Alexa apps or on your connected Fire TV or Echo Show devices. Plus, it is super easy and convenient to place or mount just about anywhere inside your home and these cameras are tiny compared to most smart home cameras. Definitely convenient for those hard-to-mount spots.
The downsides? Aside from no Google Assistant capability, Blink's cameras don't have the widest field of view and the Blink app can sometimes be a bit clunky. Otherwise, these are great value for the money.
How to choose the right Eufy alternative
With the unfortunate downfall of one of our favorite home security brands, Eufy, and the revelation that several other brands can't be trusted, it's hard to know where to turn. Thankfully, there are still plenty of companies with solid reputations and products that mostly replace what Eufy offers.
Arlo is likely the best replacement for most people, even if its best motion detection features require a subscription. Plus, that means object detection and video storage are all in the cloud. In other words, you have to choose between local storage and advanced object detection. Arlo doesn't offer one package with both included.
Google offers a compelling alternative with onboard people, vehicle, animal, and package detection but doesn't offer local storage at all. Personally, I love Google's cameras because I get all the best features without having to pay a monthly fee. To me, that's more important than local storage for some cameras.
If you need local storage and want to completely avoid the cloud and monthly subscriptions, GE Cync and TP-Link Kasa are your two best choices. They both offer local storage options but don't have completely wireless cameras.
Blink, on the other hand, offers the best wireless camera option with truly local storage but comes with some technical limitations. There's no advanced object detection — just motion zones to help guard against false movement notifications — but the cameras do last 2 years on just 2 AA batteries.
All in all, there's no true 1:1 replacement for Eufy but the alternatives all at least come from companies that are more reputable than Eufy has been at the end of 2022.
