Google’s new Nest Aware pricing model is rolling out starting this week, the company announced today. The new model means that a single subscription now covers all of your Nest devices, rather than asking you to pay on a per-device basis. It’s available in each of the 19 markets where Nest Aware is available, including the US, UK, Australia, France, and Germany.
The new Nest Aware subscription now costs $6 a month or $60 a year to cover all of your devices. That gets you 30 days of “event video history,” meaning you get the recordings from whenever the camera detects motion or sound. Jumping up to $12 a month ($120 a year) for Nest Aware Plus doubles your event history to 60 days and also gets you 10 days of 24/7 video recording history.
It’s a lot simpler than Nest’s previous pricing model in which subscription prices ranged from $5 to $30 per month per camera, with discounts offered to cover each subsequent device. However, the old model got you 24/7 video recording as standard, and now it’s something you have to pay extra for. If you’re an existing Nest Aware subscriber and you want to upgrade to the new Nest Aware subscription, you can do so within the Google Store. Be warned that you’ll have to migrate to a Google Account as part of the process.
In comparison, Amazon’s Ring subscription plan costs $10 a month or $100 a year if you want it to cover every device in your home, while Arlo’s entry-level $9.99-a-month plan covers up to five cameras. Both Ring and Arlo charge a reduced rate of $3 a month if you just want to cover a single camera.
As well as the new pricing model, Google also says that Nest speakers and displays in the US can now listen and alert you when they hear “critical sounds” like glass breaking or a smoke alarm. Once you’ve received the alert and listened to the sound, you then have the option of calling 911. If you call using the Home app, it will know to connect you with an operator who’s closest to your home rather than your phone’s location.
To coincide with the launch, Google is reducing the price of a couple of its Nest products: the Nest Hub is now available for $89.99, down from $129, and the Nest Cam indoor is $129.99, down from $199.
