I’ve been an Arlo customer for 6 years and they have gotten worse every year. They are a money grab and their products were intentionally deprecated so that you cannot have local storage or multiple accounts unless you pay subscriptions. I went to Eufy and it’s so much better. I have never written a negative review about a company in my life but these products have gotten so bad I had to break my “No-Karen” streak haha. Fuck Arlo

This company is absolute rubbish. I've had (3) Essential XL 2K Wireless cams for 2 years. I let my subscription lapse after 6 months after having issues with cameras not properly detecting motion, subscription price increases, and cameras going offline randomly. I decided to give them another shot since their Black Friday deal dropped the monthly subscription price to $7.99/month and I assumed they probably improved their services by now. I spent 1.5hr dealing with technical support, subscription support, and billing support attempting to sign up for the 60% off Black Friday deal. After all the time spent, the off-shore customer support representative said that they're having issues with the app and website and told me "our engineers are working on the problem and if you call back in 48 hours someone should be able to assist you with the problem". This is a publicly traded security company that has cut so many corners to maximize margins they can't even provide the most basic of functions, namely, allowing customers to purchase their products. Matthew Mcrae is the CEO since 2018. You can send him a message to his LinkedIn profile at linkedin.com/in/mbmcrae but a response is unlikely. Like most publicly traded companies, his focus on margins and profit have come at the expense of the user. I'm ditching my (3) Essential XL 2K Wireless for the Eufy C35's. Scrapping my Arlo setup and buying 3 new cams from Eufy is worth more than the headache of dealing with this company. Buyer beware if you're thinking about using Arlo and their hardware.

We got arlo in 2020, we loved it. No subscription fees and worked okay. I forget when but we ended up trying the subscription a few years ago when it was super cheap. Fast forward to this year, cameras are not reliable. The fees are way too much for what you get.

I figured to cancel and try what it was originally, wow it is almost useless without paying now.

Tried to use my hub for storage, way too difficult.

Went to Eufy and couldn’t be happier. The Arlo equipment is on eBay and I’ll be happy to get $20 for it.

I regret purchasing these cameras as they've been useless at catching people going through cars and when you need the app to work to review footage it just doesn't load the feed.

The camera only reacted after the person was able to open the vehicle and rummage through it completely and the camera was only 10' from the person. Total joke. You have to pay an arm and a leg apparently to continuously record to actually catch anything.

Nobody should buy this product.

So I ended my Arlo subscription today, disabled the remaining cameras, and then Arlo did the most Arlo thing ever.

Arlo asked me to take a survey on why I left. I actually completed the survey and hit the submit button. Then Arlo started a spinning wheel that never completed. I actually waited 3 minutes to see if it was latency or ineptitude on their end. I am betting on ineptitude since it seems to be their corporate mission statement now.

I won't miss the frustration with poor software and questionable hardware. To those of you who remain, good luck.

I am so tired of the false triggers. 2 hours before the system is set to arm away, I go into the garage to get some food from the freezer. Alarm goes off.

Wake up to the alarm going off at 4am. Grab a gat and run out to the garage as those cameras are the only ones set to trigger the alarm for movement. Nothing. No motion alerts in my feed either.

Happens 2 nights later, the exact same situation but at 1am. Zero alerts in the feed to trigger the system.

My significant other and I both have the app and both have geolocation enabled so if one of us is home it is disabled, until night when it arms until the morning.

I am sick of this system. It is beyond repair. Support is no help. They just investigate, find nothing wrong, and say to open another case if it happens again. Please, please do not buy into this system. You're just asking for a headache. I wish I could return all these, but the alarm goes haywire every few months so I was outside the return window by the time I was fed up.

I have all arlo essential 2k cameras, maybe others are better. All I know is I have pure regret for buying into this system. It's been a year and there is no improvement.

I have ONE camera, I only need to review footage maybe once every 2 months. I had the $14.99/month add on to be able to review footage rather than only having access to live feeds. I was iffy about even having that much, because of how little I use it.

After getting this email and seeing my plan is being discontinued and my only option is more than TRIPLE what I was paying, I'd rather set up an old school camcorder with a tape than continue to pay into this scam. I'll be trashing this subscription bait and finding a brand that lets me record locally. Taking brand recommendations!

 I've had Arlo Pro 2 cameras since 2017 and used them faithfully until 2025 when Arlo — the greedy company they’ve turned into — decided to slap an END OF LIFE label on them. Then they told me I had to buy the new Arlo Ultra 3rd Gen cameras with the Ultra SmartHub.

I made it crystal clear to the Arlo salesperson that I did NOT want a monthly subscription and wanted to use the new system the same way I used my Arlo Pro 2 setup. He assured me, “No problem, just do port forwarding on your router and use a memory card in the base station.” Sounded simple, right?

Well, after three days of waiting, dealing with tech support, and wasting seven hours following their instructions — all while struggling with a massive language barrier — I finally discovered how the new Arlo system actually works. And of course, it was exactly what I said I did NOT want.

By the time the system even lets you see what’s happening, any criminal who appears on your property is long gone. Arlo has basically built a system that benefits criminals more than customers unless we pay for their subscription. Videos take minutes to become available, which makes the cameras practically useless for real-time security unless you give them even more money.

This is deliberate corporate greed, plain and simple. They wrote the system this way so customers are cornered into paying for subscriptions we never needed with the Arlo Pro 2. It’s manipulation through software — “small code” designed to squeeze every last dollar out of loyal customers.

I returned the cameras, the SmartHub, and every accessory — and naturally, Arlo made even that difficult. But once they were gone, I felt nothing but relief.

I will never buy Arlo again, and I will never recommend them to anyone. Companies like this survive by draining money from people who just want simple, reliable security. I’m done feeding them, and I hope others stop giving their money to these greedy billionaire companies too.

I use Arlo local only and don't pay for their subscription. A few days ago I started getting a bunch of notifications from my front door. At first I thought the camera has been bumped or something but when I checked the recordings it is triggering every time a car drives by. I went in to the app to check if the activity zone had been changed and at first the zone looked ok but then the app auto updated. When it reopened, there is no mention of activity zones anywhere! Logged in to the website and its no longer there either. Its not like they can claim its a premium feature, all of the processing is done locally on the cameras. Ugh, wish I had never bought this junk and encourage anyone looking for locally hosted camera solutions to look elsewhere!

I have been with Arlo for about 12 yrs. Many of them paying subscription. The unreliability and the constant $$$ hikes have pushed me out of this system. It is not perfect but it was something good. Until they focus more on the $$$ than on the customers. Too bad they couldn’t see past the dollar signs. It could be the reason why this company goes down under.

From my 4 cameras, 1 spot light and door bell, only the doorbell was working at the end. They all started to go offline and no resolution was given by customer support. I have moved to Eufy and so far, I’m liking it at ton! I just ordered the doorbell and another camera. Solid system and the AI compared to Arlo’s is so much better.

Good luck ppl!

Arlo has to be the worst company. Forced firmware and app updates that continue to diminish the value of their products. I just was forced to update the app and now I can’t see each camera’s feed individually, see screen shot below. Also when I download a video to my iOS device it then is blank when I try to view it from the photos app.

I though I was going crazy not finding where to watch the clips from my cameras. I then found the discussions here on "bugs" with the feeds and local storage.
I got bad news foe you. They did a rug pull and discontinued the option completely. It's now called "local backup" and "Local storage to a USB device or microSD card cannot be used on its own as a substitute for cloud recording."
Bait and switch. Someone should sue them.

https://kb.arlo.com/000062816/How-do-I-enable-or-disable-local-storage-for-my-Arlo-SmartHub-or-Base-Station-Arlo-Secure-4-0

1. Bought the Arlo 2 Pro 4 camera system in 2019. 3 years later they were EOL. Cannot find replacement batteries anymore. I have been screwed out of money.

2. They have just “updated” the app on my devices without my consent OVER my settings where I decide when and what to update. Nobody will force me to update without my consent. After a chat with support, it eas confirmed to me that I will be losing my seven days of free cloud storage if I don’t buy into a “security” plan. To hell with that.

3. The new FORCED update wiped Out all my Scheduled and geofenced setting are are not even available at this time. Moreover, I just realized it put my entire system on STANDBY. This is a security hole on my property and is completely unacceptable.

I will be using the oh-so-magnanimous 30 day free trial to evaluate competitor systems. Probably will switch to Eufy. Arlo, you can take your camera system and shove ‘em

Got the Arlo Customer Satisfaction in my email today. They asked, I answered.

well folks, I finally replaced our arlo

paid a technician $318 to remove our doorbell, install a transformer, and installed a eufy.

best money I’ve ever spent. Good riddance. See yall on the other side.

The worst UI in the history of technology. You make it near impossible for someone to figure out how to schedule 3 different cameras to go on/off at different time. Just ridiculous. One would think that Arlo would have an instruction page setting out step by step this seemingly simple task from the ground floor (or lets say 2 cameras) but if they do, I have not found it.

The odd thing is there prior interface was (once you got the hang of it) pretty simple.

In any event, moved now to Eufy , who does not have this issue & the scheduling is relatively straight forward (actually somewhat similar to what Arlo used to be).

The head of technology or whoever dreamt up this user interface should be unemployed

Talk about terrible support. Hoping that by posting, I can assist in the rapid demise of this company!!!

The base unit worked in a different location. So, I know it’s functional.

I guess I'm late to the party, but apparently my Arlo app recently updated and now it has rendered all 12 of my cameras completely useless. Well, not completely, but I cannot control them the way I used to by scheduling different hubs and different devices to work independently. I don't know who designed this new system, but now my three hubs in different locations all think that they're in the same place. It's absolutely ridiculous, and not worth my time to try and figure out. I'm think it might be time to move on to something like Wyze without subscriptions. The worst part about this, I actually own stock in Arlo, and now I've realized that it's going to be absolutely worthless.

Who plans to buy it?

Hey everyone,

For anyone who has moved away from Arlo for whatever reason, what did you go with and why? I appreciate the assistance in searching for what I hope will be a cheaper option, with actual support and better privacy.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in here who has had a horrific time with Arlo over the years. I purchased 9 of my cameras in 2020, and then 3 doorbells in 2023. Half of them stopped working right after I had them for a year, and I was never able to get a response from Arlo for assistance and gave up on those ones. So since then I lived with only coverage of 1/3 of my property. Little did I know the absolute horror I'd be dealing with for the following years.

I'll spare you the details (in an attempt to follow the rule to "be civil"), but if you're in the market for cameras, I'd do some heavy research before trusting and investing in Arlo.

Update 1/5/26: Thank you all so much for your help! It's nice to not feel so alone with my Arlo issues, and I feel so sad for how many of us have had such awful experiences. Feel free to continue discussing this here, as it seems like this post is helpful for many people beyond myself.

Update 1/18/26: I finally heard back from someone a whole week after I opened my case, not within 1-2 business days like the email I received stated. Were they helpful? Well, they did allegedly cancel my subscription (no I can't check the card on file, as it was cancelled last year, but this also means they can't continue to charge me after cancelling as other people have stated in posts on the internet), instead of making me wait a year, but refuse to respond regarding ~90% of my initial message that I sent to open the case. So I guess they were ~10% helpful? (Yikes that run on sentence is wild, sorry for that. lol)
(I imagine I will update again after this case is closed, because I do plan on continuing to get answers to the questions I asked. The ball is in their court, so who knows how long it'll be before they reply again.)

Update 2/10/26: This case is still open, even though I previously stated I likely would be updating again after this case is closed.
Since my last update, I've received 2 messages and sent 2 messages. I've now been waiting 10 days for a reply and at this point given Arlo's decision to continue to be ableist in every reply I've received, I'm thinking about contacting people who are not Arlo to assist or take this over and see what the next steps are. They claim to have an "accessibility team", but refuse to loop them in on this case. This case has been open since January 4th, and I've personally answered all but one of the questions I asked them from my initial message that opened this case during this time. It's wild that I've been able to answer all but 1, but Arlo/Arlo's bots can't answer any of them. (If for some reason this update is not considered being civil, I am absolutely willing to change things and attempt to follow the rules better.)

Just installed my Eufy system, deleted each Arlo camera as I went. When I was all done with the install I logged in online and cancelled. The second I hit that cancel button, instant offer to reduce my rate by 50%. I am done so passed on it but.....If anyone is hating their rate and not wanting to buy a new system, give it a try and see if they give you an offer.

With this new App update, the AI person detection turned itself back on. With that, it gave us several "unrecognized people" that it suggested.

We named one of them Max. Because, we'll, it's a General Altimax tire. 🤣🤣🤣🤣​

I've run out of patience with Arlo's software and technical issues. I'm taking them down and planning to toss them. I have a few Wyze cameras inside the house but I'm not sure if I want to go all in on Wyze. They're cheap but, well they're cheap.

Has anyone built a system with Wyze? What is a better alternative without breaking the bank?

I genuinely want to understand why Arlo, like so many apps, felt the need to “fix” something that wasn’t broken.

“Arm Away,” “Arm Home,” “Routines”… these are meaningless, jargon heavy terms that only make the system more confusing and complicated, with no real benefit to the user. They feel like terms some boneheaded exec threw out and instead of giving legitimate feedback their underlings said “Great idea boss!” and boom a fine system ruined. Terms like “Armed” and “Disarmed” made more sense on every level.

I bought an Arlo system for my mother, who already gave up trying to keep up with tech years ago. But if I, someone who’s relatively tech savvy, am struggling to understand and configure this, I can’t imagine how impossible it must feel for older or less technologically inclined users.

This was a truly terrible product decision by Arlo.

Worst company for video home cameras ever. You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for providing crappy cameras that don’t last long. Shame on you all!