A cloud camera sends your video to a company’s servers to be analyzed and stored. A local AI camera does the detection on the device and keeps the footage in your house. More on the security camera hub .

How it works

The camera or a small base station runs the detection model. When it sees a person, it saves the clip to built-in storage, a microSD card or a home base, and sends you an alert. The video itself doesn’t need to leave your network to be useful.

Brands that do this

Eufy: local storage and AI detection with no fee (Wired ). See Eufy cameras
Reolink: on-device detection and microSD storage, up to 512GB on the Argus 4 Pro (Smart Home Matrix ). See Reolink on Amazon

What “local” doesn’t promise

Remote viewing still passes through the maker’s relay servers in most apps.
“Local” claims are only as good as the company’s practices. Read the privacy policy, and check whether the camera works if the maker’s cloud goes away.

Who should care

Indoor cameras, especially in kids’ rooms.
Anyone who doesn’t want footage in a cloud account.
Anyone avoiding fees. See cameras with no monthly fee .

The same detection approach powers robot vacuum obstacle avoidance , and the privacy question carries over to AI glasses .