Blink subscription pricing and what you get

Blink offers two subscription tiers for cloud storage of your camera footage. The Blink Basic plan costs $3 per month or $30 per year and covers one camera. The Blink Plus plan costs $10 per month or $100 per year and covers unlimited cameras on your account. Both plans store 30 days of motion-triggered video clips in the cloud. Without a subscription, you can still use your Blink cameras to view live feeds and receive motion alerts, but you won't have cloud storage of past recordings.

The choice between Basic and Plus depends on how many cameras you own. If you have one camera, Basic is cheaper. If you have two or more, Plus becomes the better value — a second camera on Basic would cost another $30 per year, while Plus covers all of them for $100 per year total. Blink also offers a free trial period when you first set up a camera, usually 30 days, so you can test whether cloud storage matters to you before paying.

Key Takeaways

  • Blink Basic costs $3 per month ($30 per year) and covers one camera with 30 days of cloud storage.
  • Blink Plus costs $10 per month ($100 per year) and covers unlimited cameras with the same 30-day storage window.
  • Without any subscription, you can still view live camera feeds and get motion alerts, but recordings won't be saved to the cloud.
  • If you own two or more cameras, Blink Plus becomes cheaper per camera than buying multiple Basic subscriptions.

What cloud storage actually means for your footage

Cloud storage means Blink's servers keep copies of your motion-triggered video clips for 30 days. When your camera detects motion, it records a short clip (usually 5 to 60 seconds depending on your settings) and uploads it to Blink's cloud. You can then watch that clip from anywhere using the Blink app on your phone or computer, even if you're away from home. After 30 days, Blink deletes the oldest clips to make room for new ones.

Without a subscription, your camera still records motion-triggered clips, but they're stored only on your local network — meaning you can only watch them if you're home and connected to your WiFi. If your internet goes down or your home network fails, you lose access to those recordings. Cloud storage protects against that scenario by keeping a separate copy on Blink's servers.

Local storage as an alternative to cloud subscription

Blink cameras do not have built-in local storage like a memory card slot. However, you can use a Blink Sync Module (a small hub that connects your cameras to your home network) to store footage on an external USB drive attached to the module. This local storage option costs nothing beyond the initial $35 to $50 for the Sync Module itself, but it only works when you're on your home network.

Local storage is useful if you want to keep recordings longer than 30 days or if you prefer not to send footage to the cloud. The trade-off is that you can't access those recordings remotely — you have to be home or connected to your home network to view them. Many people use both: a subscription for remote access and a USB drive for long-term backup of important clips.

How Blink's pricing compares to other camera brands

Other popular home camera brands charge differently. Ring (owned by Amazon) offers cloud storage through Ring Protect, which costs $3 per month for one camera or $10 per month for unlimited cameras — the same price as Blink. Google Nest Aware costs $6 per month for one camera or $12 per month for all cameras on your account. Wyze charges $1.99 per month per camera for cloud storage. Eufy cameras often include local storage on the camera itself, so no subscription is required, though you pay more upfront for the hardware.

The lowest-cost option overall depends on how many cameras you own and whether you want cloud or local storage. If you have one camera and want cloud backup, Wyze is cheapest. If you have multiple cameras, Blink Plus and Ring Protect cost the same. If you want to avoid subscriptions entirely, Eufy or local storage with a Sync Module may be worth the higher initial cost.

What happens if you cancel your subscription

If you stop paying for a Blink subscription, your cameras continue to work for live viewing and motion alerts. You straightforward lose the ability to watch recorded clips from the cloud. Any clips stored on Blink's servers are deleted when your subscription ends — Blink does not keep them in a separate archive. If you had a Sync Module with a USB drive, those local recordings remain on the drive and you can still access them at home.

You can restart a subscription at any time without penalty. If you cancel for a few months and then resubscribe, you'll start fresh with a new 30-day rolling window of cloud storage. There's no contract or commitment — you can cancel monthly subscriptions after one month or yearly subscriptions after one year.

Understanding Blink's data practices and what you're trading

When you use Blink's cloud storage, your video footage is encrypted in transit (while traveling to Blink's servers) and at rest (while stored there). Blink is owned by Amazon, and your account is linked to Amazon's systems. This means Amazon can see that you use Blink, though the company states that video content itself is not used for advertising or sold to third parties. You should review Blink's privacy policy directly if you want to know exactly what data Blink and Amazon collect about your usage patterns.

The security trade-off is straightforward: cloud storage gives you remote access and protection against local network failure, but it means your footage travels across the internet and sits on someone else's servers. Local storage keeps footage on your own network, but you lose remote access and have to manage the storage yourself. Neither option is inherently wrong — it depends on what matters more to you: convenience and remote access, or keeping footage entirely offline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a subscription to use Blink cameras at all?

No. You can use Blink cameras without a subscription to view live feeds and receive motion alerts. You only need a subscription if you want to watch recorded clips from the cloud. Motion-triggered clips are still recorded, but they're stored locally on your network instead of in the cloud.

Can I use Blink Plus if I only have one camera?

Yes, you can buy Blink Plus even with one camera. It costs $10 per month instead of $3 per month for Basic, so it's more expensive per camera. But if you plan to add more cameras later, switching to Plus beforehand saves money since Plus covers unlimited cameras.

How long does Blink keep cloud recordings?

Blink stores motion-triggered clips for 30 days with either subscription tier. After 30 days, the oldest clips are automatically deleted. If you need longer storage, use a Sync Module with a USB drive for local backup, or read clips manually before they expire.

Is Blink cloud storage encrypted?

Yes. Blink encrypts footage while it travels to the servers and while it's stored there. However, Blink is owned by Amazon and your account is linked to Amazon's systems. Read Blink's privacy policy to understand what usage data Amazon collects about your account.

What's the difference between Blink Basic and Blink Plus?

The only difference is how many cameras each plan covers. Basic covers one camera for $3 per month. Plus covers unlimited cameras for $10 per month. Both store 30 days of cloud footage. If you have two or more cameras, Plus is cheaper overall.