Compare what cloud cameras and an on-prem NVR system cost over 5 or 10 years: hardware, installation, server refreshes, power, and IT labor. Enter a quoted license price, or leave the field empty and the tool computes your break-even license price: the figure below which cloud wins. Every assumption is editable and every default is documented below the tool.
Cloud system (camera + license)
License pricing comes from a partner quote, so this field starts empty. Leave it empty to see the break-even license price for your scenario, or enter the MSRP or your quoted figure for the full head-to-head.
On-prem NVR system
Running a license-free VMS? Set VMS + maintenance to zero; the comparison still works.
The default staffing hours (10.7 vs 2.9 per device per year) are IDC's measured averages across both system types. Labor is the swing factor in this comparison: set both to zero to see the pure cash view, which is the view most NVR-side comparisons publish.
BREAK-EVEN LICENSE PRICE, 48 CAMERAS, 2 SITES
$546 / camera / yr
If your quoted license lands below this, cloud is cheaper over 10 years; above it, the NVR stack is.
Have a quote? Enter its license figure on the left and this panel becomes the full head-to-head with a break-even year.
Planning-grade estimate. Real quotes move every line: camera mix, retention, switch and cabling scope, and license tier all matter, and the defaults here are documented (and arguable) below the tool.
Replace the defaults with a quote for your site.
We are an authorized Verkada partner. Bring us a floor plan and we will quote the cloud column for your site, including license pricing, plus a 30-day trial camera so you can test the platform against the math.
Get a quote for your siteBoth stacks start with cameras and installation. The cloud side then pays one recurring line: a per-camera license that covers the platform, updates, and support. The NVR side pays for recorders or servers (sized by cameras per unit, per site), any VMS licensing and maintenance, and around-the-clock power, and it buys the server hardware again at every refresh interval that falls inside the horizon. A refresh that lands in the final year is excluded on purpose: a server bought at the end of the comparison benefits nobody. Because your actual license price depends on the partner quote, the tool runs in two modes: with the license field empty it solves for the break-even license price (the per-camera annual figure at which both stacks cost the same over your horizon), and once you enter a figure (published MSRP or your quote) it switches to the full head-to-head with a break-even year.
The line that decides most comparisons is IT labor. IDC measured security device management across both architectures and found organizations spent 10.7 staff hours per device per year on traditional systems versus 2.9 on Verkada, a 73% efficiency gain worth $137,941 a year at the average studied organization. Those are this calculator's default hours, with the caveats published in the study itself: it was sponsored by Verkada and based on interviews with seven organizations averaging 331 devices. If your one-site, twelve-camera reality looks nothing like that, change the hours or zero them out for a cash-only comparison.
What the model leaves out: retention-driven storage sizing (long retention raises NVR disk budgets and cloud license tiers roughly in parallel), camera-mix differences, cabling and switch upgrades, and downtime risk. Those move a quote, and they are the reason the output is a planning estimate rather than a bid.
Every default is either a published number (linked) or a labeled planning placeholder to overwrite with your own. Azentri is an authorized Verkada partner; every input is editable.
| Default | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Default scenario | 48 cameras, 2 sites, 10-year view | Models the multi-site industrial operator this site serves, over a horizon matching common license terms. Shrink it to one small site and the NVR column often wins. |
| Cloud camera hardware | $799 | Verkada's published MSRP for the CD22, its entry indoor dome. Pricier models raise it; check the page for your mix. |
| Cloud license per year | starts empty | MSRPs are published by device and term (CD22: $249 for 1 year to $2,199 for 10). The tool solves for the break-even license price until you enter a figure. |
| NVR-side camera | $400 | Planning placeholder. For a real-world legacy datapoint, WellPower in Denver reported $400 per camera plus $7,000 per DVR on its previous system. |
| Installation ($250 / $350) | per camera | Placeholders reflecting that NVR installs add head-end work. The City of LA measured 4+ hours of install labor saved per device without NVR infrastructure. |
| IT hours (10.7 vs 2.9 / device / yr) | IDC, 2024 | IDC Business Value of Verkada (#US52372424), sponsored by Verkada, n=7 organizations. The one third-party measured number in this space. |
| Loaded IT labor rate | $60 / hr | Planning placeholder for a fully loaded internal IT hour (salary, benefits, overhead). Set it to your own cost, or to zero for the cash-only view. |
| Steady-state bandwidth | 20-50 Kbps | Verkada's bandwidth documentation. Context for why cloud does not require a network rebuild; not a cost line in the model. |
| Server refresh: 7 years | assumption | A generous refresh cycle; many IT departments run 5. Shorter cycles favor the cloud column. |
One published cross-check for the whole approach: Prism Health reported 43% 10-year cost savings (over $500,000) after switching from an on-prem system, per Verkada's published customer story.
At small camera counts with cheap or uncounted labor, the NVR column in this tool regularly wins and the break-even license price can drop to zero. The model reports that result unchanged.
It depends on what you count, which is why published comparisons disagree. On sticker price alone, a small single-site NVR system usually wins: the cameras are cheaper and there is no annual license. Count the full ten-year picture (server refreshes, VMS and maintenance contracts, power, and above all the IT hours spent patching, replacing drives, and maintaining recorders) and cloud systems usually come out ahead, especially across multiple sites. The useful output is a break-even year rather than a universal winner, and that is what this calculator computes from your numbers.
More than the invoice. The recorder or server is bought at least twice over a decade (a 7-year refresh is a generous assumption; many run 5), VMS licenses and support contracts renew annually, the hardware draws power around the clock, and somebody's hours go into patches, failed drives, and firmware. One published data point for the legacy side: WellPower in Denver reported its old system ran $400 per camera plus $7,000 per DVR before any of those recurring costs started.
The license includes the Command cloud platform with unlimited user seats, all current and future software features, automatic firmware and security updates, and 24/7 support, with no separate maintenance contract. Hardware carries up to a 10-year warranty. License MSRPs are published by term (a 10-year CD22 license lists at $2,199, about $220 per year). Enter your quoted figure or the MSRP, or leave the license field empty to compute the break-even price.
Less than most IT teams expect, because footage is stored on the camera, not streamed to the cloud around the clock. Verkada documents a steady-state upload of 20 to 50 Kbps per camera at rest (multisensor models run higher), with bandwidth used only when someone actually views or shares footage. On-device storage ranges from 30 to 365 days depending on model and settings.
Because almost everyone publishing one sells one of the two sides, and the result swings on two decisions: whether IT labor is counted, and how long the horizon runs. NVR-side comparisons typically count cash costs only and stop at year five, before the first server refresh. Cloud-side comparisons lean on labor savings at enterprise scale. Both can be arithmetically true. This calculator shows every line item and lets you zero out anything you disagree with, including labor.
No. In hybrid-cloud architectures like Verkada's, video is recorded and stored on the camera itself, so an internet outage interrupts remote viewing, not recording. When the connection returns, cloud access resumes. That onboard storage is also what keeps the steady-state bandwidth in the tens of kilobits rather than megabits per camera.
We're an authorized Verkada partner. Send a floor plan or a camera count and we'll return a quote (hardware, licenses, and install) plus a 30-day trial camera.