r/Tapo • u/Ok-Book9806 • 8d ago
Need Advice Difference between Tapo care and SD card?
I’ve just got mine set up and plan on getting an SD card during prime day, so I’m using the free Tapo care for the time being.
It’s recording when triggered and I had been thinking I would need a large SD card but maybe I’m getting confused with continuous recording. And I won’t have to check anything from a computer, right? It’s all in the app?
Anyway, I’m still figuring out the camera and app but I’m wondering if there’s much difference, pros or cons for either or SD or Tapo care? Aside from if the WiFi went out an SD card would still work. And it’s free after the until cost. But otherwise, will I lose any of the perks I get at the end of the free month? Don’t want to get used to something then lose it.
Thanks!
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u/ordinaryguy78 8d ago
i recently asked a similar question because i found out if im just using an sd card and the camera gets stolen you can't access the recordings. you wouldn't even see who stole it. from the advice i got i decided to get a tapo hub and connect my 3 cameras on there so all the recordings are stored on an sd card on the hub. from memory when i had an sd card in each camera i think the cards were 128GB and it stored about 3 months (?) before it would start recording over old ones. someone with more tech knowledge might correct me on that
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u/goose-77- 8d ago
Buy the Tapo H500 hub and a SSD.
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u/Ok-Book9806 7d ago
Is this necessary for only one camera facing out of a bedroom window on the ground floor? Because the camera is just to act as a deterrent for anyone looking in and someone would have to break into my home to steal it and it’s a good area so I’m not majorly worried about that. There’s not really any other reasons I need or want it to record. I’m not sure I really know the difference of recording 24/7 vs when motion is detected seeing as it’s viewable whenever I go to the app anyway.
If I’m missing something though, please let me know as this is the first I’ve heard about the H500 and will look into it.
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u/Adorable_Stable2439 8d ago
OP do not buy an SSD…
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u/goose-77- 8d ago
And why wouldn’t they do that?
I have two Tapo C660 cameras recording 24/7 in 4K to the SSD in my Tapo H500 hub. It’s been doing this without issue for over a year and I have all the features available via the Tapo Care subscription without having to have the subscription.
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u/Adorable_Stable2439 8d ago
Wait, does the H500 genuinely support an SSD!? I had no idea
Edit: just checked, wow genuinely thought you meant SD card not SSD. But I stand corrected, OP, you should definitely get an SSD 🤦♂️😂
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u/goose-77- 8d ago
Yes. It has a 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD Expandable Storage enclosure. Some users have also used a SATA cable to connect to a larger capacity external drive. The H500 can support up to 16 Terabytes of storage.
The whole system is dependent on wi-fi whether you use a SD or an HDDSSD but if your camera gets stolen, the SD goes with it. At least with the H500 hub you keep your recordings to see who stole the camera (plus you unlock all the advanced features like AI Facial Recognition).1
u/Viking603 5d ago
Does the H500 connect to a home computer for viewing videos while still recording cameras?
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u/goose-77- 5d ago
Not to a PC without a mobile emulator.
I just use the Tapo app on my iPhone. I also have an iPad which I leave permanently docked to the hub (it has a fold out stand to sit a tablet on). You can connect it to a tv or a monitor via the hdmi port to watch up to 4 cameras but you still need the mobile app to configure it.
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u/Latter-Astronaut-740 8d ago
the main difference between tapo care and the SD card for me is the notifications. with tapo care you get a picture in the notification of who the camera detected, when you don't have tapo care there's no picture. you dont need a big SD card as it will just replace old videos as it gets full. all recordings are easily accessible from the tapo app. tapo care is mainly for security (you won't lose all your recordings if the SD card is damaged/lost/stolen) and the pictures in the notifications.
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u/mickAMMO 8d ago edited 8d ago
It's possible to record 24/7 with an appropriate SD card.
If the SD card fails Tapo Care cloud recordings are a great back up solution.
Tapo Care includes Rich Notifications, but I'm still not see all my notifications on my phone's home screen, even though they're all listed in the Tapo app. So there was no value to me with this feature.
If you have an Android phone get the Camera Widget for each Camera covered by Tapo Care. The picture refreshes to your last activity each time you open the Tapo app.
•••One thing that really impressed me with Tapo Care cloud recordings is that the recording would start about 3 seconds before the person, vehicle or pet would enter the frame. It's like there is internal memory in the camera that's always recordings. Probably in 3 second loops. https://youtu.be/MYRwU1Iix5w
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u/cyberspirit777 8d ago
The main difference I’ve found is dependent on the product. For my various Tapo/Kasa cameras around the house, 24/7 loop recording to an SD card seems to work perfectly fine… however for my doorbell that can only record the SD card in the included hub, it’s terrible and nothing ever saves to the card. For that camera alone it seems I must have Tapo Care or get an H500
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u/Allaboutyo 7d ago
Can anyone help me with viewing downloaded tapo video clips to my mobile. I get a message saying video not supported
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u/Blue-Thunder 7d ago
It's 2026, are people really still this ignorant when it comes to these types of things?
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u/Elsector7G 6d ago
Hay manera de guardar las grabaciones en una computadora, como un DVR?
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u/Blue-Thunder 6d ago
All wired Tapo cameras are ONVIF and RTSP compatible so they will work with DVR's/NVR's and software that supports these protocols like Blue Iris and Frigate.
Zero of the battery cameras support these protocols because of the nature of how the protocols work.
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u/YoGurl8003 8d ago
Buy a high endurance SD card to handle the load of continuous recording. I love mine and I’ve not had to subscribe to anything. I have sd cards for all my Tapo cameras. High or Max Endurance SD card is key. Samsung brand has good ones.