Compare camera quotes without losing the hardware, feeds or retention
One supplier quotes a monthly service. Another includes a recorder and an annual license. A third lists a camera price but leaves its required license on another page. Procurement needs one worksheet with the same job written at the top — otherwise these figures get added to different baskets.
Start with the intended camera views, the watch schedule, required recording retention, named access roles and the alert route. Then ask each supplier to price that exact scenario and identify anything it cannot supply.
Make the billing unit visible
Spot AI describes subscriptions per location V02. Coram quotes by camera count and recorder selected V04. Lumana describes annual licensing driven by feed count, retention and term V07. These are different units, and a monthly number without its units is an incomplete comparison.
For multisensor equipment, count streams as well as housings: Verkada's Connector licensing FAQ requires a license for each connected sensor feed V09. A six-camera walk-around can therefore produce a different channel count than the one assumed in a preliminary proposal.
Use a worksheet the installer can sign back
| Line | What to ask for | Why it changes the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Camera/encoder work | Kept models, replacements, wiring and setup | A retrofit still needs proven compatibility |
| Recorder/connector | Quantity, model, local storage role | A box may replace an existing cost or add a new one |
| Licenses | Unit, quantity, term, renewal basis | Cameras, feeds, locations and users are different units |
| Retention | Days at stated resolution and bitrate | A maximum capacity is not the quoted commitment |
| Search and accounts | Search window, account count, SSO/audit needs | Retaining footage does not settle search scope |
| Operations | Support, connectivity, maintenance, response staffing | The shift must still operate the system |
| Exit | Export scope, end-of-term behavior and removal work | The handover should cover the next change too |
This is a proposed purchasing template, not a statement that every vendor includes or charges for every line.
Separate hardware list price from the total
Take two separate entries from Verkada's US catalog. One is the indoor CD22 dome, with a hardware MSRP of $799 and its required license still to add. The other is the CC300 Connector, whose $4,499 hardware MSRP also leaves channel licensing to add. Resolution affects its capacity: the rating is ten channels maximum when each is no higher than 5 MP, and using 4K reduces that maximum to five V08. Neither number is the complete installed-system total, and the indoor dome is no substitute for specifying a suitable outdoor gate camera.
Here is a purely hypothetical whole-cost calculation: $3,000 equipment + $1,200 installation + 24 × $250 subscription = $10,200 over two years, before any omitted items. Those amounts are invented worksheet inputs, not a vendor quote. Ask the supplier to fill the real cells and mark exclusions explicitly.
Ask about search as well as storage
For Eagle Eye, write search reach and recording retention in separate cells. Standard permits Smart Video Search over the preceding seven days. On Professional and Enterprise, that reach instead depends on the camera's retention, and those two editions also provide SSO and audit logs V10. Request subscription pricing at the chosen resolution and retention, with the connection hardware identified for the eligible deployment V11.
If your normal incident review happens on day twenty, have the demonstrator show that exact workflow. A retention number alone does not settle what tools remain available for finding the event.
Keep payment restrictions next to the headline
LVT Essentials advertises US $1,000/month with annual prepayment, limited to prequalified accounts and available refurbished or retrofitted units V15. At that rate, the implied annual prepayment is $12,000. Don't present it as a cancel-any-month offer, and don't assume a unit will be available for a short job.
Where a vendor publishes no dollar rate, request a dated proposal. A blank cell labeled “quote needed” is better purchasing evidence than an estimated competitor price dressed up as fact.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, a recorder or a cloud subscription?
That depends on the complete service and ownership period. Compare the same recording, detection, access and response requirements before adding the rows.
Should we choose the longest retention?
Specify the retention the job and your policy require, then check the cost and access workflow. This guide supplies no universal retention requirement.
Fact traceability
Source-register IDs used on this page: V02, V04, V07, V08, V09, V10, V11, V15. Direct primary links sit beside the relevant claims. Calculations and selection judgments are editorial examples, not measured product results.