Indoor security cameras can range in price from $20 up to hundreds. They come with wildly varying features and capabilities. Some indoor security cameras are better suited to checking on your kids or pets, and others will be best for monitoring your home while you’re out of town. Like other home security options, such as video doorbells and outdoor cameras, you can opt for special features like panning and tilting capabilities, facial recognition, motion detection, free cloud storage, two-way audio and person alerts. These can be wireless cameras, indoor cameras or wired cameras with rechargeable batteries, motion sensors, temperature sensors and color night vision.
Whether you’re trying to deter burglars or just want to review footage of your cat staring down a squirrel out the back door, there’s almost certainly an indoor home security camera that meets your needs. If you’re not sure where to start looking for the camera system to check your particular boxes, I’ve highlighted my top contenders for the best indoor security camera below to help guide your decision.
David Priest/CNET
In a sea of costly security cameras, the $50 Wyze Cam Pan v2 offers killer value. What sets this security camera apart even more than its fantastic free two-week cloud storage and built-in microSD card slot for local storage are the panning and tilting capabilities that let you monitor a large indoor space easily with a single device.
The Wyze Cam Pan can follow a person walking across the room, send a notification that identifies them as a person, and record the encounter to store for up to 14 days. The subscription is super cheap, and the camera is excellent even without it. In short, this gadget is a keeper.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The $199 Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera, previously called the Netatmo Welcome, is one of the few indoor security camera options that works with HomeKit Secure Video. HomeKit Secure Video is a service that works with the iOS-only Home app. It offers 10 days of free event-based video history, stored in iCloud.
Few security camera companies offer free cloud storage anymore (ahem, Arlo) — and even fewer offer 10 full days of free cloud storage. Wyze is an exception with this indoor security camera’s two weeks of free storage, which is one reason why it’s my current favorite indoor cam.
The Smart Indoor Camera from Netatmo has 1080p HD livestreaming, a 130-degree field of view, night vision and local storage with an included microSD card. This security camera also has facial recognition capabilities when you create a database of friends and family members. In addition to working with HomeKit, the Smart Indoor Camera also supports Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.
Molly Price/CNET
Despite the terrible name, Google’s Nest Cam (Indoor, Wired) is a solid — and really nicely designed — indoor camera. No, it’s not the super-affordable $30 camera that you get from Wyze, but $100 isn’t bad for a device with this many features: free smart alerts that distinguish between people, animals and vehicles, three hours of event history, activity zones and Google Home app viewing and support. This Nest camera also comes with the usual two-way audio, 1080p resolution with HDR and night vision.
With the Nest Aware subscription, you’ll also get facial recognition, sound alerts (listening for smoke and CO alarms, for instance) and weeks of event storage. Finally, the Nest Cam works well with Google Assistant and Nest smart displays.
Other products we’ve tested
We’ve reviewed dozens of the most popular cameras from the biggest brands, including Google Nest, Amazon Blink, Amazon Ring, Wyze, Arlo, Eufy, Canary and many more. While many of these devices offer similar features, including two-way talk, livestreaming, app notifications and more, finding the right device for the right price can be a challenge. The above picks are the best packages we’ve found so far.
How we test home security cameras
Hands-on testing is core to our evaluations of any home security products. In short, when it comes to security cameras, we pay special attention to resolution, night vision and latency, extra features, general performance and overall value. We evaluate all of these elements in a real home environment over the course of a week. If you want to read more about our review process, check out our in-depth article on how we test home security cameras and video doorbells.
Indoor Home Security Cameras Compared
| Our picks | Wyze Cam Pan v2 | Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera | Nest Cam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $50 | $199 | $100 |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| Field of View | 120 degrees | 130 degrees | 135 degrees |
| Extra Features | Livestreaming, 2-way talk, sound and motion alerts, color night vision, panning and tilting functions | Livestreaming, night vision, facial recognition capabilities, integration with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | 2-way talk, night vision, 4 colors, object identification, activity zones and integration with Google Assistant |
| Review Score | 9.2 | 7 | 8.4 |
Indoor home security camera FAQs
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about indoor home security cameras. If you have any others, feel free to reach out on Twitter (@david_p_priest) or you can email me from my author page (just click the little orange envelope).
Which security camera has no monthly fee?
Most indoor security cameras can be used without a monthly fee, but not all of them offer storage, notifications or their full smarts without that extra subscription. If you’re looking for cameras without monthly fees, Wyze cams are a good starting point: they have free cloud storage on a 14-day rolling basis, though that comes with a 5-minute cooldown between recording clips. Google Nest also gives some free storage — only three hours — but it also comes with free smart notifications, like animal, person, package and vehicle alerts. Other brands to check out for subscription-free smarts: Blink, Eufy and Lorex.
How can I hide my indoor camera?
While we don’t recommend hiding cameras for surveillance purposes (such as recording the babysitter without prior notice), hiding a camera that doesn’t fit with your home decor is totally understandable. Using artificial plants, strategically organized bookshelves and glass-covered kitchen cabinets can help hide a chunky security camera from sight.
More home security recommendations:
Indoor security cameras can range in price from $20 up to hundreds. They come with wildly varying features and capabilities. Some indoor security cameras are better suited to checking on your kids or pets, and others will be best for monitoring your home while you’re out of town. Like other home security options, such as video doorbells and outdoor cameras, you can opt for special features like panning and tilting capabilities, facial recognition, motion detection, free cloud storage, two-way audio and person alerts. These can be wireless cameras, indoor cameras or wired cameras with rechargeable batteries, motion sensors, temperature sensors and color night vision.
Whether you’re trying to deter burglars or just want to review footage of your cat staring down a squirrel out the back door, there’s almost certainly an indoor home security camera that meets your needs. If you’re not sure where to start looking for the camera system to check your particular boxes, I’ve highlighted my top contenders for the best indoor security camera below to help guide your decision.
David Priest/CNET
In a sea of costly security cameras, the $50 Wyze Cam Pan v2 offers killer value. What sets this security camera apart even more than its fantastic free two-week cloud storage and built-in microSD card slot for local storage are the panning and tilting capabilities that let you monitor a large indoor space easily with a single device.
The Wyze Cam Pan can follow a person walking across the room, send a notification that identifies them as a person, and record the encounter to store for up to 14 days. The subscription is super cheap, and the camera is excellent even without it. In short, this gadget is a keeper.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The $199 Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera, previously called the Netatmo Welcome, is one of the few indoor security camera options that works with HomeKit Secure Video. HomeKit Secure Video is a service that works with the iOS-only Home app. It offers 10 days of free event-based video history, stored in iCloud.
Few security camera companies offer free cloud storage anymore (ahem, Arlo) — and even fewer offer 10 full days of free cloud storage. Wyze is an exception with this indoor security camera’s two weeks of free storage, which is one reason why it’s my current favorite indoor cam.
The Smart Indoor Camera from Netatmo has 1080p HD livestreaming, a 130-degree field of view, night vision and local storage with an included microSD card. This security camera also has facial recognition capabilities when you create a database of friends and family members. In addition to working with HomeKit, the Smart Indoor Camera also supports Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.
Molly Price/CNET
Despite the terrible name, Google’s Nest Cam (Indoor, Wired) is a solid — and really nicely designed — indoor camera. No, it’s not the super-affordable $30 camera that you get from Wyze, but $100 isn’t bad for a device with this many features: free smart alerts that distinguish between people, animals and vehicles, three hours of event history, activity zones and Google Home app viewing and support. This Nest camera also comes with the usual two-way audio, 1080p resolution with HDR and night vision.
With the Nest Aware subscription, you’ll also get facial recognition, sound alerts (listening for smoke and CO alarms, for instance) and weeks of event storage. Finally, the Nest Cam works well with Google Assistant and Nest smart displays.
Other products we’ve tested
We’ve reviewed dozens of the most popular cameras from the biggest brands, including Google Nest, Amazon Blink, Amazon Ring, Wyze, Arlo, Eufy, Canary and many more. While many of these devices offer similar features, including two-way talk, livestreaming, app notifications and more, finding the right device for the right price can be a challenge. The above picks are the best packages we’ve found so far.
How we test home security cameras
Hands-on testing is core to our evaluations of any home security products. In short, when it comes to security cameras, we pay special attention to resolution, night vision and latency, extra features, general performance and overall value. We evaluate all of these elements in a real home environment over the course of a week. If you want to read more about our review process, check out our in-depth article on how we test home security cameras and video doorbells.
Indoor Home Security Cameras Compared
| Our picks | Wyze Cam Pan v2 | Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera | Nest Cam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $50 | $199 | $100 |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| Field of View | 120 degrees | 130 degrees | 135 degrees |
| Extra Features | Livestreaming, 2-way talk, sound and motion alerts, color night vision, panning and tilting functions | Livestreaming, night vision, facial recognition capabilities, integration with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | 2-way talk, night vision, 4 colors, object identification, activity zones and integration with Google Assistant |
| Review Score | 9.2 | 7 | 8.4 |
Indoor home security camera FAQs
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about indoor home security cameras. If you have any others, feel free to reach out on Twitter (@david_p_priest) or you can email me from my author page (just click the little orange envelope).
Which security camera has no monthly fee?
Most indoor security cameras can be used without a monthly fee, but not all of them offer storage, notifications or their full smarts without that extra subscription. If you’re looking for cameras without monthly fees, Wyze cams are a good starting point: they have free cloud storage on a 14-day rolling basis, though that comes with a 5-minute cooldown between recording clips. Google Nest also gives some free storage — only three hours — but it also comes with free smart notifications, like animal, person, package and vehicle alerts. Other brands to check out for subscription-free smarts: Blink, Eufy and Lorex.
How can I hide my indoor camera?
While we don’t recommend hiding cameras for surveillance purposes (such as recording the babysitter without prior notice), hiding a camera that doesn’t fit with your home decor is totally understandable. Using artificial plants, strategically organized bookshelves and glass-covered kitchen cabinets can help hide a chunky security camera from sight.
