Security camera cost in 2026: wireless, outdoor, solar cameras and video doorbells

For the device alone, a security camera starts at $27.99 at the sellers we track, and a video doorbell at $74.95. The table gives the entry price, the median price and the most expensive of 126 models at 8 sellers: Quebec hardware stores and three camera brands sold online.

The top of the range is not a more expensive camera: it is a pack of two to eight cameras, or a system with a recorder. Further down, a table brings every pack back to its price per camera.

Looking for a model right away? Our 10 recommended cameras, one per need, with their price and their specs for winter, are in our ranking (link below).

In our catalogue as of November 3, 2026, a security camera sells from $27.99 to $1,196.99 at 8 sellers (112 models). The cheapest: Canac, from $27.99. The median price, $181.99, shows where most of the offer sits.

Two kinds of sellers sit side by side. Quebec hardware stores (Canac, BMR, Patrick Morin, Gagnon, Laferté) carry a few Wi-Fi cameras for indoors and outdoors, including garage door cameras, in store. The camera brands sold online (ANRAN, ARCCTV, Botslab) carry everything else: solar cameras, cellular cameras, dual-lens cameras and complete kits, shipped to Canada.

The second table compares what the price tag does not show: stores, currency, delivery time and warranty. The links to ANRAN, ARCCTV and Botslab are affiliate links: Buildsavr earns a commission if you buy, at no cost to you. The tables do not change.

We sorted the 112 cameras in our catalogue by type, from their names. A solar camera starts at $62.89 (ANRAN), a cellular camera at $103.42 (ARCCTV), an indoor camera at $27.99 (Canac).

“Wireless” means two things on product pages: no data cable (the camera uses Wi-Fi) and no power cable (it runs on its battery). A solar camera is both. A plug-in Wi-Fi camera is wireless for data only.

The online brands sell the same camera alone or in packs of two, three or four, and the price per camera usually drops with the pack size. The table gives, for each seller, the lowest price per camera at each pack size. A system with a recorder is compared whole.

Before you take the four-pack, count your access points: the front door, the back or patio door, the garage and the driveway. One camera too many costs less than a blind spot, but a camera filming a wall is useless.

It is the question manufacturers’ product pages cover the least, and the one that matters most here. An outdoor camera in Canada spends long weeks below freezing, and a solar camera gets little sun in winter.

The battery. A consumer lithium-ion battery must not be charged below 0 °C: Battery University explains that lithium then plates as metal on the electrode, which damages it for good. It can discharge down to about −20 °C, but at −20 °C most batteries only deliver about half their capacity. Ring and Arlo say so for their cameras: charging stops below freezing, even if the camera keeps recording.

The operating temperature. That is the number to read on the product page. ANRAN publishes −20 °C to 50 °C for its QV4M5 and −20 °C for its Q1 Max, but −10 °C for its F2M3 floodlight and its P3. ARCCTV publishes −10 °C to 50 °C for its battery cameras and −20 °C to 60 °C for its plug-in cameras. Botslab publishes −20 °C to 60 °C for its W315. A camera rated for −10 °C will spend part of January outside its range.

The sun. On December 21, Montreal gets 8 h 42 min of daylight, against 15 h 41 min in June. According to Natural Resources Canada data, a panel facing due south, tilted at the latitude, produces 63 kWh per kWp in Montreal in December, against 116 in June: a little more than half. Snow matters less than you might think: a five-year NAIT study in Edmonton measured about 3 percent of yearly loss, and the panel’s angle matters far more.

Wi-Fi. 2.4 GHz reaches farther and goes through walls better than 5 GHz, but it is slower and more crowded (NETGEAR). That is why most battery cameras require it. ANRAN says so on its product pages (“2.4G WIFI”) and ARCCTV asks for it in its FAQ (“Ensure your home Wi-Fi is 2.4GHz”), even if some of its newer models also accept 5 GHz. Check that the signal reaches where you will mount the camera: a detached garage or a shed is often out of range.

PoE. A PoE camera gets power and data through a single Ethernet cable, up to 100 m away. It is the choice for permanent installations: no battery, no Wi-Fi to catch, but a cable to run.

Cellular (4G). A cellular camera needs an active SIM card and a data plan. Arlo says so for its Go 2, which works in Canada only with Bell and uses 700 MB to 2 GB a month. ARCCTV sells its G5 Max with a preinstalled SIM card, but its product page gives neither the plan price nor the coverage in Canada: ask before you buy. And beware of an American SIM card: the page for Botslab’s W314 says its SIM “supports Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T”, three US networks. We removed it from our catalogue for that reason.

A camera keeps its videos in one of two places: on a microSD card (in the camera or in a recorder), or in the cloud, on a subscription. The card is paid once; the subscription comes back every month. Most cameras in the catalogue accept both.

How many days does a card last? Reolink publishes the math: at 2 Mb/s, a 32 GB card holds about 36 hours of continuous recording, but 146 days if the camera only records motion, at 15 minutes a day. A battery camera only records motion, to spare its battery.

The caps vary: 128 GB at ANRAN, 256 GB for Botslab’s W315. Botslab’s W510 system records to its base station, from 32 GB up to 16 TB, with no monthly fee according to Botslab. At ARCCTV, cloud storage is a paid option.

In our catalogue as of November 3, 2026, a video doorbell sells from $74.95 to $163.99 at 6 sellers (14 models). The cheapest: BMR, from $74.95. The median price, $99.99, shows where most of the offer sits.

A video doorbell replaces the door button: it films the porch, alerts you on your phone and lets you talk to the visitor.

Wired or battery? The wired model connects to the existing doorbell wires, and that is where people get caught: it needs more power than a chime. Ring asks for 10 to 24 V AC and at least 8 VA for its basic wired doorbell; Eufy asks for 16 to 24 V and 30 VA, and says a common 10 VA doorbell transformer is generally not enough. The battery model mounts anywhere: Botslab’s R811S claims up to 210 days of battery life with its 6,400 mAh battery, and sells with an optional solar panel.

At a hardware store, you pay in Canadian dollars and leave with the device; returns follow the store’s policy.

Not for a single camera: in our catalogue, the median single camera costs $69.98 at a Quebec hardware store, against $83.85 at ANRAN, ARCCTV and Botslab, which mostly sell solar cameras, pricier than an indoor Wi-Fi camera. The online brands win on choice (solar, cellular, kits), and on kits the price per camera usually drops. Read their terms before you compare: their prices in our catalogue are each store’s Canadian-market prices.

A connected camera is a computer filming your home. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security give the same advice.

Everywhere in Canada: the sound. This is the least known trap. The Criminal Code (sections 183 and 184) makes it an offence to intercept a private communication, and intercepting includes recording it. It is enough that one of the people talking consents: your own conversation at the door is not covered. But a camera that records the conversation of passers-by or neighbours, without any of them consenting, is. When in doubt, turn off audio recording in the app.

In Quebec: the image. The Civil Code of Québec protects everyone’s privacy (article 35). Article 36 counts among the invasions of privacy using a person’s image or voice “while he is in private premises” and “keeping his private life under observation by any means”.

The neighbour, in Quebec. According to lawyer Imran Ahmad (Norton Rose Fulbright), quoted by Protégez-Vous, an outdoor camera may partly capture the neighbour’s yard if its main purpose is justified: the security of your home. Quebec courts have already ruled on excess. In 2017, the Superior Court awarded $2,500 to a neighbour whose yard was captured by cameras watching boats, and ordered their angle corrected (Viens v. Succession de Cyr). In 2020, a man who had amassed thousands of photos and hours of video of the neighbouring property was ordered to pay $15,000, according to La Presse.

Outside Quebec, privacy law differs by province and we do not summarize it here. Aim the camera at your own property, not at the neighbour’s yard or windows.

A battery, solar or plug-in camera mounts with a drill: no electrical wire to touch. An outdoor light fixture with a camera, on the other hand, connects to the house’s 120 V.

In Quebec, a homeowner may not do electrical installation work themselves, even at home, the Corporation des maîtres électriciens points out. Connecting a camera light fixture there is a job for a licensed electrical contractor. Elsewhere in Canada, the rules for homeowners differ by province: check with your provincial electrical safety authority before wiring a fixture.

The three online brands on this page, ANRAN, ARCCTV and Botslab, sell at one Canadian-market price and ship to Canada: their prices here are not Quebec prices, and they apply outside Quebec too.

The hardware store prices are those of Quebec stores. The chains in your province set their own. Buildsavr compares Quebec retailers today and is rolling out province by province.