Home-security ghosts: kill the $2.99 cloud plan and the $79.99 monitoring bill
A 13-month audit for finding forgotten Ring, Blink, Arlo, Wyze, Google, SimpliSafe and ADT charges, reading what dies with each plan before cancelling, choosing the rail that actually owns the charge, and pricing a contract exit before you take it.
Wyze charges $2.99 a month to keep one camera's events in the cloud. Ring charges $19.99 a month for the tier that adds professional monitoring. SimpliSafe's most expensive residential plan runs $79.99 a month 123.
All three sell the same shape of thing. The camera and the sensors are bought once. The part that turns them into a security system — saved video, alerts that name what was seen, a person or an automated call to the police — is rented, month after month.
That rental is the easiest charge in a household to forget. The amounts are small, the plans get renamed, and the account holding them is one you opened on the afternoon you mounted the camera.
What the money adds up to
CNET's 2026 State of Subscriptions surveyed 2,522 US adults through YouGov, from April 29 to May 1, 2026. Average subscription spending came to $111 a month, or $1,332 a year. The average adult said $21 a month, or $252 a year, went to subscriptions they were not using. In 2025 the wasted figure was $17 a month 4.
The gap between what people think they pay and what they pay is the sharper number. C+R Research asked 1,000 US consumers in April and May 2022 to estimate their monthly subscription spending, then to itemize it. Estimates averaged $86; itemized totals averaged $219. Seventy-four percent said recurring charges were easy to forget, and 42 percent had kept paying for something they had stopped using 5.
This category produces that gap mechanically. Plans are priced per device and per address, so the number in your head is one plan while the statement carries three.
Why the charge outlives the camera
One plan covers one device or one address. Ring's $4.99 Solo plan covers a single camera or doorbell. Multi covers every device at one location for $9.99, and Pro covers that same location plus monitoring for $19.99. A second address needs a second plan 2.
Ring's billing help names the symptom: several subscription charges on one account usually means several devices on Solo plans that started the same day 6.
Plans accumulate across companies. Cameras and an alarm are bought years apart, and each maker keeps its own account. SimpliSafe runs several locations inside one account, each with its own monitoring plan 3.
The purchase channel decides who can cancel. Ring sells plans only on ring.com, and a plan bought on Amazon has to be viewed there 7. Blink sells on Blink.com, on Amazon and through Apple 8. Arlo says a change or cancellation must be made through the same method — website or app — that the subscription was created with, and that Arlo Support cannot cancel it for you 9.
The price changes without a decision. Blink raised US prices on October 8, 2025. Basic went from $3 to $3.99 a month, and from $30 to $39.99 a year. Plus went from $10 to $11.99 a month, and from $100 to $119.99 a year. Blink emailed US subscribers on September 8, 2025, and applied the new price at the next renewal on or after October 8 10.
Arlo renamed its tiers on September 15, 2026: Secure Plus became Smart Aware, Secure Premium became Smart Secure, and Premium with 24/7 recording became Ultra Secure 11. The charge keeps its old name in your memory while the plan page carries a new one.
Google did the same with a bigger move. Nest Aware is now Google Home Premium, at $10 a month or $100 a year for Standard, and $20 a month or $200 a year for Advanced 12.
A plan can sit inside another subscription. Google One plans can include the Google Home Premium Standard plan as a benefit 13. Wyze sells add-ons on top of plans: Cloud 60 at $2.99 a month per camera, Cloud CVR at $4.99, and Pro-AI at $4.99 1.
The hardware keeps working without the plan. That is what removes the moment of decision. Ring says plainly that a plan is not required to use its products 2. Blink without a plan cuts live view from up to 90 minutes to 5 minutes and stops cloud storage 14. Arlo without a plan keeps live streaming and two-way audio 15. SimpliSafe without a plan keeps the live camera feed and remote arm and disarm 3.
Google's own comparison shows a camera with no subscription keeping either 10-second event previews for six hours or five-minute event clips for three hours, depending on the model 13.
The 13-month statement audit
Pull 13 months of card and bank statements. Thirteen, because an annual plan and the original purchase rarely land in the same calendar year.
Search the brand names first, then read the table. For this category the statement line is the weaker half of the audit, because two of the biggest sellers put their plans on other companies' billing.
| Brand | Where the charge can originate | The page that settles it |
|---|---|---|
| Ring | ring.com, or Amazon when bought there | Billing History on ring.com under Account. It is not available in the Ring app, and an Amazon purchase shows a "View on Amazon" link instead of an invoice 6 |
| Blink | Blink.com, Amazon, or Apple | The Blink app's Blink Subscription Plans screen names the subscription channel, the next billing cycle and the end date 10. Apple-billed plans sit in Settings, your name, Subscriptions 16 |
| Arlo | my.arlo.com, the Arlo Secure app, or Apple | my.arlo.com, Secure, My Arlo Account, then the plan 9 |
| Wyze | my.wyze.com, or the app store when bought in-app | my.wyze.com/account/plans lists the plan and its manage controls 17 |
| Google Home Premium | Google Store, the Google Home app, or inside Google One | Google Home app, profile picture, Home settings, Subscriptions, Google Home Premium 13 |
| SimpliSafe | SimpliSafe direct, one plan per location | Plan and billing in the SimpliSafe app or online account 18 |
| ADT | ADT direct, through MyADT or ADT+ | MyADT, Account, Manage Subscriptions; or ADT+ under Billing 19 |
If the camera plan went through Amazon, the statement line reads as an Amazon charge and not as a Ring or Blink charge. Amazon publishes the strings:
AMZN Mktp US *A1B2C3D4E and AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS for marketplace purchases, Amazon Digital Svcs amzn.com/bill for digital services, and AMZN.COM/BILL 20.Run
RING, BLINK, ARLO, WYZE, GOOGLE, NEST, SIMPLISAFE and ADT, and add the older plan names a statement may still carry: Ring Protect, Arlo Secure, Cam Plus, Nest Aware. Where a line stays unclear, the account page above identifies it, and the statement only points at a brand.The four-rail test
Before cancelling anything, settle who owns the charge. Four rails exist in this category, and the fourth one hides.
The vendor. A plan bought on the company's own site is cancelled there, and only there.
Amazon. Ring and Blink both sell plans on Amazon, and those are managed at Amazon under Memberships and Subscriptions 8. A Blink multi-year plan bought on Amazon behaves differently from the same plan bought on Blink.com, and the section below gives the numbers.
The app store. Arlo and Wyze both route in-app purchases to Apple or Google. Google Play subscriptions run for an indefinite term, and uninstalling the app does not cancel one 21. Apple's own path is Settings, your name, Subscriptions, the subscription, Cancel Subscription 16.
A bundle. A Google Home Premium Standard plan can arrive as a benefit of Google One, in which case there may be no separate charge to find 13.
PayPal adds a layer under all four. An automatic payment can be cancelled at Settings, Payments, Subscriptions and saved businesses, where the payment method behind it can also be changed 22.
The kill drill, platform by platform
Ring
Price. Solo is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year for one device; Multi is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year for every device at one location; Pro is $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year and adds 24/7 professional monitoring; Virtual Security Guard is $99 a month. Add-ons run $3 to $5 a month per camera. Plans auto-renew until cancelled 2.
What stops working. Everything you have recorded. Cancelling ends access to all recorded videos, and past recordings cannot be restored after you resubscribe 23.
The path. Sign in at ring.com, select Plan, select the plan, confirm the cancellation. The plan and its add-ons stop at the end of the billing period, and benefits continue until then 23.
The traps. Refunds are not available for Ring subscription cancellations unless the law requires them. A downgrade is a cancellation followed by a resubscribe, while an upgrade cancels the old plan automatically and applies a prorated credit. Moving between monthly and yearly on the same tier also requires cancelling and resubscribing 7. A failed payment is retried, and the subscription is cancelled 21 days after the first failure 6.
The counter-script. Download the videos before you confirm. Ring's cancellation page says the access ends with the plan, and the page links to the download instructions in the same paragraph.
Blink
Price. Basic is $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year for one device. Plus is $11.99 a month or $119.99 a year for unlimited devices. The two newer AI tiers print $6.99 and $19.99 a month, with first-year prices of $49.99 and $149.99 14.
What stops working. Cloud storage for up to 60 days, person and vehicle detection, and the AI features. Live view drops from up to 90 continuous minutes to 5 minutes 14.
The people and vehicles detection and the AI features are listed on the cancellation page itself 8.
The path. On Blink.com: log in, click My Plan, click Cancel My Plan, read the page naming the devices that will lose coverage, then click Cancel Plan. The flow sends a verification code by text, WhatsApp or email before it opens. On Amazon: Memberships and Subscriptions, Cancel Subscription, then choose immediate or at the next renewal date, then a reason. Through Apple: Settings, your name, Subscriptions 8.
The traps. The rail decides the money. A Blink.com cancellation returns nothing for the unused portion, and benefits run to the next renewal date. An Amazon monthly or yearly plan cancelled through Amazon stops benefits immediately and returns a prorated amount. A 2- or 3-year plan bought on Amazon runs to the end of the billing cycle with no refund 8.
The counter-script. Pick the rail before you pick the month. The same Plus plan cancels into two different financial outcomes depending on where it was bought.
Arlo
Price. A 12-month Smart Aware plan is $215.88 and a 12-month Smart Secure plan with professional monitoring is $299.88. Both product pages print "Final Sale" beside the term 2425.
What stops working. Every recording in the Arlo cloud is deleted within 48 hours of the subscription end date 9.
The path. On my.arlo.com: log in, click Secure, then My Arlo Account, select the plan, click Cancel Plan. In the Arlo Secure app: profile icon, the location under Locations and Plans, Plan, Modify Plan, then Cancel Plan. If the plan was bought through Apple, it is cancelled in the App Store 9.
The traps. The subscription stays active until the end of the billing period, changes must be made in the channel that created the subscription, and Arlo Support cannot make the change on your behalf 9. The tier names changed on September 15, 2026, so a statement line and a plan page can carry different words for the same plan 11.
The counter-script. If the cancel button is missing, you are in the other channel. Open the one that matches how you paid, then look again.
Wyze
Price. Cam Plus is $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year for one camera. Cam Unlimited is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year for every camera on the account. Cam Unlimited Pro is $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. Add-ons are Cloud 60 at $2.99 a month per camera, Cloud CVR at $4.99 and Pro-AI at $4.99. Wyze advertises no contracts, cancellation at any time, and a 30-day free trial 126.
What stops working. Cloud event history, which runs 14 days on the first two plans and up to 60 days on Pro, plus smart detection and the AI features 1.
The path. On the website: my.wyze.com/account/plans, Manage Plan, then Cancel plan under Change plan, then confirm. For an in-app purchase: Account, Services, the subscription, Manage, Cancel subscription, a reason, Cancel again, then Cancel anyway if asked 17.
The traps. The plan stays active to the end of the pay period, no prorated refunds are issued, and Wyze states that all subscriptions are non-refundable 17. SimpliSafe publishes no refund window on its plan-change page 18, and ADT's exit price is set by the contract 27.
The counter-script. Cancel anyway is the second button, after the reason screen. The first Cancel only records the reason.
Google Home Premium
Price. Standard is $10 a month or $100 a year. Advanced is $20 a month or $200 a year. A 30-day trial comes with a new Nest Cam or Doorbell, and the subscription renews at those prices unless it is cancelled before the trial ends 12.
What stops working. Event history of 30 days on Standard or 60 on Advanced, and the Gemini camera features 13.
The path. Google Home app, profile picture, Home settings, Subscriptions, Google Home Premium. A purchase made in the Google Store is managed on the Store subscriptions page 13.
The traps. No refunds for partial billing periods except where the law requires them, and one trial per home at a time 12. A Standard plan delivered as a Google One benefit is managed through Google One 13.
The counter-script. If no Home Premium charge appears anywhere, look at Google One before cancelling anything.
SimpliSafe
Price. The residential plans print at $79.99, $49.99, $32.99 and $22.99 a month, plus a $9.99 plan that covers camera recording and leaves out professional monitoring. SimpliSafe says plans are paid monthly with no contracts 3.
What stops working. Dispatch on the $9.99 plan, and camera recordings on the $22.99 plan. With no plan at all, the live camera feed and remote arm and disarm remain 3.
The path. Cancelling is by chat or by phone at 1-888-783-8441. Residents of some states can start it online through the Account icon, Security Dashboard, Manage Account, with the request form at the bottom of the screen, available only during standard hours. Only the account owner can cancel, and a Safe Word may be required to verify identity. A confirmation email follows 18.
The traps. An upgrade takes four taps in the app. A downgrade requires the phone call, and so does the cancellation 18.
The counter-script. Have the Safe Word ready before you dial, and be the account owner. Another adult in the house cannot cancel it for you.
ADT
Price. Set at checkout, with the initial term chosen at purchase. After that the contract renews in 30-day terms unless either side terminates at least 30 days before the term ends 27.
The path. If the system was bought online, log into MyADT, open Account, Manage Subscriptions, and fill in the cancellation form; ADT+ customers use Billing, then Manage Subscriptions, then Cancel Subscription. If no form appears, the system was not bought online and the cancellation runs through 1-800-ADT-ASAP. ADT refuses cancellations by email 19.
The traps. Cancelling inside the initial term triggers a contract termination charge of 75 percent of the total remaining monthly charges, payable immediately in full. No termination charge applies if you terminate inside a 30-day renewal period 27.
The counter-script. Ask which term you are in before anything else. The same cancellation costs nothing inside a renewal period and costs 75 percent of what remains inside the initial term.
The contract corner
Two numbers decide a contract exit, and only one of them is on the bill. Take a $45 monthly monitoring charge with 18 months left on a three-year term. Seventy-five percent of the remaining monthly charges is $607.50, due at once 27.
The same account, left alone until it rolls into a 30-day renewal period, exits at no charge. Waiting can cost less than leaving, which is the opposite of how it works for the camera plans above.
ADT also reserves the right to raise the annual service charge after the first year. A written objection within 30 days of that notice lets you terminate without the 75 percent charge 27.
The alternative to a term is a monthly plan. SimpliSafe states that its plans carry no contracts 3, and Ring's Pro tier at $19.99 a month auto-renews until cancelled 2. The monthly plan is the one you can switch off. The term's price is set at checkout and its exit is priced at 75 percent.
If the charge already posted
Refund terms in this category are set plan by plan. Ring refunds nothing on cancellation unless the law requires it 23. Blink refunds nothing on Blink.com, pays pro rata on Amazon for monthly and annual plans, and pays nothing on a multi-year Amazon plan 8. Arlo's annual plans are sold as final sale 24. Wyze states that all subscriptions are non-refundable 17. SimpliSafe publishes no refund window on its plan-change page 18, and ADT's exit price is set by the contract 27. Google refunds no partial billing periods except where the law requires it 12.
Outside those terms, two federal routes remain.
Stop the payments. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says you can withdraw permission for automatic payments even after granting it. Call the company, then follow up in writing. Call your bank or credit union to revoke the authorization, and follow that in writing too. Once both sides know, later payments are errors you can ask the bank to refund, and some banks will also want a stop-payment order with its own fee 28.
Dispute the charge. On a credit card, call the card company and send a written billing error notice within 60 calendar days of the charge appearing on the statement. The card company then has 30 days to confirm the dispute in writing 29.
What the law gives you. 15 U.S.C. § 8403 makes it unlawful to charge a consumer through a negative option on the internet unless three things happen. The seller has to disclose all material terms before taking billing details, get express informed consent before the charge, and offer a simple mechanism to stop recurring charges 30.
The FTC's 2024 amended Negative Option Rule, which would have reached auto-renewals across all media, was vacated by the Eighth Circuit on July 8, 2025. The FTC opened a new rulemaking on March 13, 2026, with comments closed April 13, 2026 31. The rule still on the books, 16 CFR Part 425, covers prenotification plans for the sale of goods 32.
That third requirement in § 8403 is the one to quote when a cancellation flow has no ending, or when a plan gets cancelled on one page and keeps billing from another.
The prevention gate
Count devices before choosing a tier. Ring Multi covers every device at one location for $9.99 a month; a Solo plan covers one device for $4.99. Wyze Cam Plus is $2.99 a month per camera, and Unlimited covers every camera for $9.99 12. By the third camera the per-device arithmetic has caught up: three Wyze cameras on Cam Plus cost $8.97 a month against $9.99 for Unlimited, and three Ring Solo plans cost $14.97 against $9.99 for Multi.
Buy the year on the rail that refunds. For Blink, an Amazon monthly or annual plan can be cancelled immediately with a prorated amount back; the same plan on Blink.com returns nothing 8. The rail is part of the price.
Decide contract or no-contract before signing. A monthly plan can be switched off; a three-year term carries 75 percent of what remains 327.
Put one alarm on the calendar. ADT needs 30 days' notice before the end of a term 27. The monthly camera plans need a week: cancelling stops the next renewal, and the current period keeps running with no refund.
Cap the card, then kill the plan anyway. A Privacy card can carry a maximum spend, lock to one merchant, and be paused or closed at any time 33. A cap stops a charge from clearing. It leaves the plan and the account in place, so the cancellation still has to happen.
Download the footage you might need. Ring deletes access to every recording when the plan ends 23. Arlo deletes the cloud recordings within 48 hours of the subscription end date 9. An insurance claim needs that video more than it needs the camera.
The kill list
- Download 13 months of statements.
- Search the brand names, plus
AMZN Mktp US,AMZN.COM/BILLandAmazon Digital Svcsfor anything bought on Amazon 20. - For each hit, open the account and list every plan: device count, address, purchase channel, renewal date, price.
- Check Google One before assuming a Google Home Premium plan is separate 13.
- Decide keep or kill one plan at a time.
- Download the footage you would want for a claim.
- Cancel on the rail that took the money: the vendor, Amazon, the app store, or the bundle.
- For SimpliSafe, dial with the Safe Word ready. For ADT, establish which term you are in first 1827.
- Screenshot the confirmation and the end date.
- If the charge already posted, claim inside the vendor's window, or send a written billing error notice within 60 days 29.
References
- 1Wyze Security Plans
wyze.com
- 2Ring Protect Plans
ring.com
- 3What are the Residential Monitoring Plan Options?
support.simplisafe.com
- 4
- 5Subscription Service Statistics and Costs
crresearch.com
- 6
- 7
- 8How to Cancel a Subscription Plan
support.blinkforhome.com
- 9
- 10Blink Subscription Plan Changes Starting October 8, 2025
support.blinkforhome.com
- 11
- 12Welcome to Google Home Premium, the new era of Nest Aware
home.google.com
- 13Learn what you get with a Google Home Premium subscription
support.google.com
- 14Plans — Blink Smart Security
blinkforhome.com
- 15
- 16Cancel a subscription from Apple
support.apple.com
- 17How do I cancel my Wyze subscription?
support.wyze.com
- 18How do I Change my Monitoring Plan?
support.simplisafe.com
- 19How Do I Cancel My ADT Monitoring?
help.adt.com
- 20Identify an Amazon Charge
amazon.com
- 21Cancel, pause, or change a subscription on Google Play
support.google.com
- 22
- 23Canceling your Ring plan
ring.com
- 24Arlo Smart Aware Plan
us.arlo.com
- 25Arlo Smart Secure Plan
us.arlo.com
- 26Compare Wyze Security Plans
wyze.com
- 27
- 28How do I stop automatic payments from my bank account?
consumerfinance.gov
- 29How do I dispute a charge on my credit card bill?
consumerfinance.gov
- 3015 U.S. Code § 8403
law.cornell.edu
- 31Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans
federalregister.gov
- 3216 CFR Part 425
ecfr.gov
- 33Virtual Cards To Protect Your Payments
privacy.com
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