How Long Do Security Cameras Keep Footage? By Brand
It depends on the plan. As of October 2026, paid cloud plans keep video up to 180 days on Ring, 60 days on Arlo and Blink, 30 days on Eufy and Google's Standard plan, and 14 days on Wyze Cam Plus. With no plan, Ring saves nothing and battery Nest cams keep 3 hours. SD cards keep whatever fits.
Figures researched 2026-10-01; each source below carries its access date. Prices change; treat any price here as "as of" its date.
How long does each brand keep video history?
Cloud video history is set by the subscription, so the same camera can keep three hours of clips or six months depending on what you pay. The table below uses each maker's own plan and support pages, as of October 2026.
| Brand | Plan (US price, October 2026) | Cloud video history on the plan | With no plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ring | Solo $4.99/mo, Multi $9.99/mo, Pro $19.99/mo | Up to 180 days | Live view and alerts only; events are not recorded |
| Google Nest | Google Home Premium Standard $10/mo; Advanced $20/mo | Standard: 30 days of events. Advanced: 60 days of events plus 10 days of 24/7 video | Battery Nest Cam and Doorbell: up to 3 hours of event video. Older wired models: 3 hours of snapshots |
| Arlo | Smart Aware from $9.99/mo (one camera) up to Ultra Secure $49.99/mo | 60 days on every plan | Live view, motion alerts, two-way audio; local microSD only on Arlo Go 2 or through an Arlo SmartHub |
| Blink | Basic $3.99/mo up to Plus ai $19.99/mo | Up to 60 days (US) | Live view, alerts, two-way audio; local clips on a Sync Module 2 USB drive or Sync Module XR microSD |
| Eufy | Cloud Basic $3.99/mo (one device); Plus $13.99/mo (unlimited) | Rolling 30 days | Local storage on the camera or a HomeBase, no fee |
| Wyze | Cam Plus $2.99/mo per camera; Cam Unlimited $9.99/mo; Cam Unlimited Pro $19.99/mo | 14 days on Cam Plus and Cam Unlimited; up to 60 days on Cam Unlimited Pro | Continuous or event recording to a microSD card, no subscription |
Two things in the table catch people out. Ring's support page states that without a subscription you can view live video and respond to alerts, but events are only recorded after you subscribe, so a Ring camera with no plan has no history at all. And Google's 24/7 history needs the Advanced tier and a camera on wired power: Google's help page says a battery-powered Nest Cam only keeps event history even on the top plan, and the battery Nest Doorbell gets no 24/7 history at all.
Google's help page still uses the older Nest Aware and Nest Aware Plus names for the 30-day and 60-day tiers; the Google Store now sells them as Google Home Premium Standard and Advanced at the prices above. For a full side-by-side of what each plan unlocks beyond history length, see security camera cloud plans compared.
How long does an SD card or NVR keep footage?
Local storage has no day limit. It keeps footage until the card or drive is full, so the answer is capacity divided by how much video you write. Two things set that rate: bitrate (higher resolution and higher quality settings write more data per hour) and whether the camera records around the clock or only on motion.
Reolink publishes a reference table for continuous recording on its microSD cards. A selection of its figures:
| Card size | At 2,048 kbps | At 4,096 kbps | At 8,192 kbps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64GB | 72.8 hours | 36.4 hours | 18.2 hours |
| 128GB | 145.6 hours | 72.8 hours | 36.4 hours |
| 256GB | 291.3 hours | 145.6 hours | 72.8 hours |
So at 8,192 kbps, recording 24/7 fills a 128GB card in about a day and a half, while at 2,048 kbps the same card lasts about six days (our arithmetic on Reolink's hours). Event-only recording stretches the same card much further. Reolink's Home Hub article gives a worked example: two Argus 3 Ultra battery cameras on a 64GB card, each recording 300 seconds of clips a day, store about one year of video. Its Doorbell Battery example on 64GB at 300 seconds a day comes to 1.9 years.
Blink states that clips on its local USB or microSD storage remain until you delete them or the drive is full. Network video recorders (NVRs) follow the same math with hard drives measured in terabytes, so they hold far more video than a single microSD card, divided across however many cameras write to them. If you are choosing between storing at home and paying for cloud, the trade-offs (cost over three years, theft, privacy) are in local vs cloud storage for security cameras, and cameras that record locally with no plan are compared in no-subscription security cameras.
How do you keep a clip longer than the history window?
Every cloud plan covered here deletes old footage once it passes the plan's history limit, and local storage stops or needs clearing once the card or drive is full. If a clip matters, download it as soon as you know it matters. Ring's support page notes that changing your storage duration setting applies only to future recordings, not to events already saved, so you cannot extend history after the fact.
This is the practical problem after a break-in or a package theft. Police and insurers may ask for footage days or weeks later, after a short history window has already rolled over. Save the clip to your phone or computer the same day, then keep a second copy somewhere other than the camera. The steps for the hours after an incident, including what to hand to police and your insurer, are in the after a break-in checklist.
If you rely on a microSD card alone, remember that the footage lives inside the camera. A thief who takes the camera takes the evidence. A hub or recorder kept indoors, or a cloud plan as a backup, removes that single point of failure.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does Ring keep video without a subscription?
- It keeps nothing. Ring's support page says that without a subscription you can view live video and respond to alerts as they happen, and events are only recorded after you subscribe. Paid Ring plans store motion events for up to 180 days.
- How long does Google Nest keep footage for free?
- Google's help page lists up to 3 hours of event video history with no subscription for the battery Nest Cam and battery Nest Doorbell. Older models such as the Nest Cam IQ and wired Nest Doorbell get 3 hours of photo snapshots instead of video.
- Do security cameras record over old footage?
- Cloud plans delete clips once they pass the plan's history limit, for example 60 days on Blink and Arlo. On local storage, Blink states clips stay until you delete them or the drive is full. Check your own camera's settings for how it behaves when its card fills.
- How many days of footage will a 128GB SD card hold?
- For continuous recording, Reolink's table puts a 128GB card at 36.4 hours at 8,192 kbps and 145.6 hours at 2,048 kbps. Motion-only recording lasts far longer because the camera writes only short clips.
Sources
- Ring plans: Solo $4.99/mo, Multi $9.99/mo, Pro $19.99/mo; up to 180 days of video history: https://ring.com/plans (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Ring: without a subscription you can view live video and respond to alerts; events are only recorded after you subscribe; motion event videos stored in the cloud for up to 180 days; changing storage duration applies only to future recordings: https://ring.com/support/articles/lw54x/Understanding-Ring-Protect-subscriptions (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Google Home Premium Standard $10/month or $100/year with 30 days of event video history; Advanced $20/month or $200/year with 60 days of event history and 10 days of 24/7 history: https://store.google.com/us/product/google_home_premium?hl=en-US (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Nest without subscription: battery Nest Cam and Doorbell up to 3 hours of event video history; Nest Cam IQ, older Nest Cam and wired Nest Doorbell 3 hours of snapshots; Nest Aware 30 days of events; Nest Aware Plus 60 days of events and 10 days of 24/7; battery Nest Cam must be on power for 24/7; no 24/7 on battery Nest Doorbell: https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/16593318?hl=en (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Arlo plans: Smart Aware single camera $9.99/mo, unlimited $19.99/mo, Smart Secure $29.99/mo, Ultra Secure $49.99/mo; all with 60-day video history; a plan is not required to use Arlo products: https://us.arlo.com/pages/arlo-secure (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Arlo without subscription: live video feed, motion detection, two-way audio; local microSD recording with Arlo Go 2 or Arlo SmartHub; 60 days cloud video history is a subscription feature: https://blog.arlo.com/home-security-tips/can-you-use-a-home-security-camera-without-a-subscription/ (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Blink plans: Basic $3.99/mo, Plus $11.99/mo, Basic ai $6.99/mo, Plus ai $19.99/mo; 60 days cloud video history: https://blinkforhome.com/plans (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Blink with no storage: live view, motion alerts, two-way audio; local storage on USB drive with Sync Module 2 or microSD with Sync Module XR; local clips remain until deleted or drive is full; cloud storage up to 60 days (US): https://support.blinkforhome.com/using-your-camera/blink-storage-options (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Eufy Cloud: Basic 1 device $3.99/mo or $39.99/yr; Plus unlimited devices $13.99/mo or $139.99/yr; all plans rolling 30-day video history: https://service.eufy.com/article-description/Introducing-Cloud-Storage (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Wyze: Cam Plus $2.99/mo per camera, 14 days cloud events; Cam Unlimited $9.99/mo, 14 days; Cam Unlimited Pro $19.99/mo, up to 60 days: https://www.wyze.com/pages/service-plans (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Wyze: every Wyze Cam with a microSD slot supports 24/7 local recording (continuous or events only) with no subscription; plans add 14-day cloud storage: https://support.wyze.com/hc/en-us/articles/32776621952539-Is-24-7-Local-Recording-going-away (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Reolink microSD continuous recording time: 64GB 72.8/36.4/18.2 h, 128GB 145.6/72.8/36.4 h, 256GB 291.3/145.6/72.8 h at 2,048/4,096/8,192 kbps: https://support.reolink.com/articles/360007011633-How-Long-Can-the-Micro-SD-Card-in-Reolink-Cameras-Record/ (accessed 2026-10-01)
- Reolink Home Hub: 64GB card, two Argus 3 Ultra cameras at 300 s/day stores about 1 year; Doorbell Battery 64GB at 300 s/day about 1.9 years: https://support.reolink.com/articles/33312364391449-How-Long-Can-the-microSD-Card-HDD-of-Reolink-Home-Hub-Record-for-Battery-Powered-Wi-Fi-Cameras/ (accessed 2026-10-01)
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