Why do I need a plan?

[Michiganchuck]

Why do I need a plan, I never save anything to the cloud.

[Arlo-Greg]

While our service plans offer cloud video recording, they also include Arlo Smart AI features, which help the camera identify what it sees and hears. This can be used not only to provide more information in the notifications and library, but also to filter out unwanted alerts. In addition, your battery powered cameras can utilize our cloud activity zone feature to further filter out unwanted recordings. As a subscriber, when your camera detects motion, you will receive our Rich Notification instead of the standard notification. Rich Notifications provide additional context describing what the camera detected and now displays an animated preview, so you can save time in understanding what your camera detected -  all from the lock screen of your phone. Rich notifications also have call to action buttons that provide quick access to Mute Notifications, Activate Siren, Emergency Response, and Call a Friend.

With an Arlo Secure Plus service plan, our US customers also get access to our new Emergency Response service which provides one-touch access to emergency services such as Police, Fire, and Medical.

Without an Arlo service plan, your Arlo camera will still have the option to record to local storage on the hub or base station via SD card or USB storage device, live stream and receive basic notifications when motion is detected.