What Is Nest Aware?
Nest Aware Subscription
Nest Aware is the cloud video storage for Nest Cameras and the Nest Doorbell. The Nest Aware subscription allows you to store and view the footage on your Nest Cam or Nest Doorbell.
Without the Nest Aware Subscription you are limited to only seeing snapshots of the last 3 hours of what your Nest Cam or Nest Doorbell saw. You don’t get any live video recording unless you have your Nest Cam or Nest Hello Doorbell paired with the the Nest Aware Subscription.
You can always access the live video feed on your Nest Cam or Nest Doorbell without the Nest Aware subscription but the camera will not be recording and it will not be uploading the footage to the Could.
How Much Does Nest Aware Cost?
The Nest Aware subscription comes in several different subscription tiers and each tier offers the same exact features, the only difference is how long your Nest Camera footage will be stored. We break down each tier for Nest Aware Below.
The tiers are broken down into 5 day, 10 day and 30 recording. You do get a discount if you pay for the subscription yearly rather than monthly. You also get a subscription discount when adding additional Nest Cameras or Doorbells after the first camera.
The discounts are only valid for cameras located in the same home in the Nest App.
Nest Aware Monthly Subscription Cost:
5 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $5 per month, each additional camera $3 per month.
10 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $10 per month, each additional camera $5 per month.
30 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $30 per month, each additional camera $15 per month.
If you multiply each of the above Nest Aware rates by 12 you get the following
5 Day Annual Cost: $60
10 Day Annual Cost: $120
30 Day Annual Cost $360
If you choose to pay upfront annually Nest does give you a discount which is listed below.
Nest Aware Annual Subscription Cost:
5 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $50 yearly, each additional camera $30 yearly. ($4.17/Month and $2.5/Month)
10 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $100 yearly, each additional camera $50 yearly. ($8.33/Month and $4..17/Month)
30 Day - 24/7 Continuous Recording: First Camera cost $300 yearly, each additional camera $150 yearly. ($25/Month and $12.5/Month)
You can see that paying yearly upfront does save you a significant amount if you have multiple camera or are planning on using the longer duration storage.
For a 5 day subscription if you pay upfront annually you save almost 17% or $10 per year, when adding Nest Aware to your Nest Camera
What Cameras Does Nest Aware Work With?
Is Nest Aware Subscription Worth It?
If you are going to have the cameras on the exterior of your house and use them as more than just a deterrent. You really need the Nest Aware subscription to make them useful and capture the footage that you can review.
I was on the fence about paying a monthly fee to use the Nest Hello Smart Doorbell that I already paid hundreds of dollars for but I figured that the $50 fee wasn’t terrible for the yearly subscription and I would just do it. Well a few months went by and nothing eventful happened. Just the typical day in and day out video footage of me taking the dog out for a walk, leaving for work and neighborhood activity.
Then………something crazy happened. A delivery driver backed into my fence going full speed totaling the fence, ripping the posts out of the ground and the delivery driver just hit the fence, reversed the truck and just kept going without even getting out like it was just all part of a typical day.
When I initially called the delivery company to report the accident, they were suspicious and not very willing to take care of the problem until sent them evidence captured on my Nest Hello of exactly what happened.
Without the Nest Aware subscription I would have most likely had to pay for the costs to repair the fence myself. So in the end the $50 per year Nest Aware subscription was worth it for me and I was glad I had it as an insurance policy for my home with my Nest Doorbell.
What Features Do You Get With Nest Aware?
Beyond storing the recorded Nest Footage you get a couple extra features with the Nest Aware subscription that are otherwise blocked on the cameras without the subscription.
Nest Aware includes these added features:
Person Alerts - Your camera can auto detect if it spots a person vs just motion and alert you when a person is detected using AI.
Closeups - The Nest cam can automatically pull out a photo from each event and zoom in on the action so you know what footage to review in more detail.
Activity Zones - You can create custom “activity zones” on the camera so that you are alerted only when motion is detected inside a zone. This is great if you live on a busy street and want to avoid being alerted every time a car drives by, you can exclude the street from the activity zone.
Clips and Timelapses - You can create custom clips based on the footage you want to save or share and easily share them from the Nest Aware management screen. You can also create timelapses of your footage.
Nest Aware Summary:
If you plan on using you Nest Doorbell or Nest Cameras as a primary security camera getting the Nest Aware subscription is essential to unlocking the full functionality of the Nest Camera.
There are smart home cameras that have free storage for 24/hrs like the Amazon Cloud Cam and Ring Doorbell does offer a lower monthly fee for video storage. However if you have already bought into the Nest Ecosystem or like the advanced features great user interface of the Nest system pairing it with the Nest Aware subscription will help you get the most out of your Nest Cameras or Nest Doorbell.