Smart home devices have become pretty affordable. However, the subscriptions attached to them? Not always. Shelly is taking a slightly different route with its first security camera. The new Shelly Camera costs $49.99, but unlike many connected cameras that put their most useful features behind a monthly payment, you can use this one without signing up for another recurring bill.
That doesn’t mean Shelly has abandoned subscriptions entirely. There is still a paid plan for anyone who wants more advanced features, but the important difference is that the camera remains genuinely useful without one. The Shelly Camera will be available soon through the company’s online store and other retailers, with black-and-white versions to choose from. And while its price is appealing, Shelly has clearly made a few compromises to get there.
You can skip the subscription and still do plenty
The camera records at 1080p, which isn’t particularly impressive when competing cameras around this price have already moved to 2K. It offers a 110-degree horizontal and 70-degree vertical field of view, plus night vision to keep an eye on things after dark. It also needs to stay plugged in via USB-C. There’s no built-in battery, so where you place it will depend partly on where you can get power. What becomes more interesting is what Shelly gives you without asking for more money.
You can livestream the camera over Wi-Fi, save event recordings locally using a microSD card, and connect it with other Shelly smart home products. Motion at the camera could, for example, trigger a compatible light outside your home. That makes the camera useful as part of a larger smart home setup without requiring cloud storage just to get started. For anyone tired of discovering that the device they bought needs another subscription to do anything particularly useful, that approach is refreshing.
Paying monthly is still an option, not a requirement
There are reasons you might still want Shelly’s subscription. Paying unlocks cloud video recording, which gives you an off-device copy of footage rather than relying entirely on the microSD card inside the camera. It also adds smarter object detection. The camera can tell the difference between people, pets, and vehicles, allowing you to create more specific notifications and automations. Instead of receiving an alert every time your dog walks past, for instance, you could configure the system to care only when a person appears.
That ultimately seems to be the bigger appeal of Shelly’s first camera. The hardware itself isn’t breaking much new ground, particularly with its 1080p resolution and wired-only design. But at $50, you can buy it, add a microSD card, and actually use its core security features without committing to yet another monthly payment. In a smart home market increasingly filled with subscriptions, sometimes the nicest feature is simply being allowed to say no.
