Artificial intelligence capabilities that monitor your home’s cameras are immensely helpful for home security, saving you time and power while keeping you informed about everything that goes on in your house, from identifying loved ones’ faces to seeing when shipments abruptly disappear. Even more sophisticated queries, such as where children left their bikes or who keeps knocking on the door, can be answered by technologies like Google Gemini, which can analyze previous recordings.

One issue with wallets, however, is that home AI services are frequently expensive, often requiring a membership fee or other recurring expense. Additionally, a lot of us have paid enough in membership fees throughout the course of our lives. However, there are free methods to access these incredibly intelligent AI features on gadgets like security cameras. These are the best practices.

Use the free AI services offered by Google Nest.

Not all smart home manufacturers charge for AI recognition capabilities. Actually, some of my favorite Google Nest products are the Nest Doorbell and Nest wireless camera as they provide free object identification in addition to free video storage for hours.

When configured, a Nest device may provide you with free notifications concerning people and deliveries while ignoring animals and cars. This is particularly useful if you want to keep an eye out for porch pirates. Features like face recognition and conversational video searches with Gemini may be added with a Nest Aware membership if you’re feeling like upgrading in the future.

Put a Tapo security camera in place.

One of my top picks for an inexpensive camera with lots of security features is the Tapo security camera. Depending on how you want to use the camera, you can get one for about $20 that still supports voice assistants, motion detection, and, yes, AI functions for identifying people and detecting screaming babies. There are alternatives for onboard video storage, so using this camera doesn’t require paying recurring costs.

Install an outside Lorex camera.

Lorex specializes in cameras that have built-in microSD cards, allowing you to store videos instantly without the need for additional fees or subscriptions. They also use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify human shapes and filter out extraneous movements, so you only receive critical notifications. Lorex is a superb choice for outdoor security cameras because of its high-resolution lenses.

Install a Eufy smart lock with video.

Eufy’s cameras come with free inbuilt video storage and AI identification that can identify objects such as people, animals, and shipments and provide you notifications depending on your interests without charging you more. These capabilities are compatible with a wide range of Eufy models, but the most cutting-edge is the company’s most recent video smart lock S330, which combines a video doorbell and smart lock into one device.

See our picks for the top smart home appliances, how home security can save you money every month, and how smart thermostats can also help you save money.