Avigilon is two products — Alta in the cloud, Unity on-prem — and each compares against Verkada differently.
| Verkada | Avigilon | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're comparing | One product line: hybrid-cloud cameras and platform, one Command dashboard. | Two lines: Alta (cloud-native) and Unity (on-premise VMS + access), unified under Motorola Solutions in 2023. | Know which Avigilon you're quoted |
| Published hardware pricing | Yes, list prices per model: indoor dome from $799 (CD22) to $2,099 (CD63). | No, quote-only through dealers, no prices on product pages. | Verkada |
| License pricing | Published MSRPs per device and term (CD22: $249/1-yr to $2,199/10-yr). | Quote-only officially; dealer-published MSRP for Alta Aware runs $179 (1-yr) to $1,599 (10-yr) per camera, including 30 days of cloud storage. | Even: both flow through the channel |
| What the license includes | One tier: all AI analytics, unlimited users, updates, 24/7 support in every camera license. | Alta Aware bundles cloud AI; Unity sells analytics as paid add-on licenses (VAC, face recognition, firearm detection). | Verkada vs Unity; even vs Alta |
| AI & analytics | AI search, safety alerts, heatmaps, and Helix data pairing, included in the license on analytics-capable models. | Alta bundles AI search; Unity analytics are paid add-on licenses per camera. | Verkada on bundling |
| Retention | Up to 365 days onboard plus 30-day cloud backup included. | Alta cameras record onboard 30 to 365 days by model; Unity retention is bounded by your NVR sizing. | Even on paper, check your model |
| Warranty | Up to 10 years, model-dependent , not conditioned on license renewal. | Alta cameras: 10 years only while an Alta license stays active (3 to 5 years without); Unity cameras 3 to 5 years. | Verkada |
| Alarms & monitoring | Published per-site tiers: $600/yr Basic to $12,000/yr Premium. | Alta Protect offers 24/7 remote monitoring; pricing by quote. | Verkada for published pricing |
| Third-party cameras | Command Connector ingests ONVIF/RTSP fleets (H.264, up to 20 RTSP channels per connector). | A genuine strength: Alta is ONVIF-compliant with 100+ integrations; Unity supports third-party cameras natively. | Avigilon |
| Free trial | 30 days, full platform, free two-way shipping. | 30-day trial for Alta; Unity by dealer demo. | Even |
| Who's behind it | Independent; #1 worldwide in VSaaS by 2024 market share per Omdia. | Motorola Solutions: Avigilon acquired 2018, Openpath 2021, Ava 2022, stitched into Alta in 2023. | Context, not a winner |
Azentri is an authorized Verkada partner. Prices shown as of July 2026. Alta Aware license MSRPs come from published dealer price lists, not avigilon.com, which lists no prices. Openpath door pricing circulating online ($1,300 to $2,800 per door per year) is an integrator estimate, not a Motorola figure, so it doesn't appear as a row above.
Avigilon's own Verkada comparison page only talks about Alta, the cloud-native line assembled from Ava's cameras and Openpath's access control. That's the fair head-to-head: like Verkada, Alta is subscription-licensed, cloud-managed, and sold as a platform. If a dealer quotes you "Avigilon" without saying which line, ask. The economics differ completely: Alta's per-camera subscription lands in the same band as Verkada's, so the popular claim that "Avigilon is cheaper long-term" only ever referred to Unity.
Unity is the other answer, and for some buyers the right one: a perpetual-license, on-premise VMS for organizations with hard data-sovereignty or air-gap requirements and staff to run servers. That's a different architecture, with different costs (servers, storage, analytics add-on licenses, and a 3-to-5-year camera warranty). If your requirement is strictly on-prem, Verkada's hybrid cloud may not qualify. If you're choosing between two clouds, the rows above are the comparison that matters, and the warranty asymmetry is worth reading twice: Alta's 10-year coverage lasts only as long as you keep paying for the license, while Verkada's runs with the hardware.
On total cost: against Unity, Verkada trades server, storage, and analytics line items for a per-device license; against Alta, the subscriptions land close enough that platform breadth and warranty terms decide it. Which way it goes for your sites is a camera-count and door-count question. Our Verkada pricing guide covers how that side is structured; a quote runs it for your sites.
Alta is the cloud-native line (built from the Ava video and Openpath access acquisitions): subscription-licensed, cloud-managed, the direct Verkada competitor. Unity is the on-premise line: perpetual VMS licenses, your own servers and storage, analytics sold as add-on licenses. They're sold under one brand but are different architectures with different economics.
It depends which line. Alta's per-camera license (dealer MSRP $179/yr to $1,599 for 10 years, including 30 days cloud storage) lands in a similar band to Verkada's channel pricing, so neither reliably undercuts the other. Unity can carry a lower software cost over time via perpetual licenses, but adds servers, storage, analytics add-ons, and a shorter warranty to the bill.
No. Avigilon product pages are quote-only via dealers. Alta license MSRPs are findable on dealer price lists, which is what this page cites. Verkada publishes hardware and device-license MSRPs plus alarm-monitoring tiers at verkada.com, with purchases through partners like Azentri.
This is the fine print worth reading. Most Alta cameras carry a 10-year warranty only while an Alta license stays continuously active; without it, coverage drops to 3 to 5 years by model. Unity cameras carry 3 to 5 years. Verkada's warranty runs up to 10 years depending on the model and isn't conditioned on license renewal.
Avigilon is stronger here: Alta is ONVIF-compliant with 100+ integrations, and Unity supports third-party cameras natively (with paid analytics licenses to add AI). Verkada's Command Connector ingests ONVIF/RTSP cameras into Command (H.264 streams, up to 20 RTSP channels per connector) and is positioned for larger deployments.
Comparing other platforms? Verkada vs Rhombus (the closest cloud-native rival), Verkada vs Ubiquiti (license-free UniFi Protect vs the cloud stack), Verkada vs Cisco Meraki (cameras inside the network dashboard), Verkada vs Axis (open architecture vs integrated cloud), Verkada vs Ring (the consumer vs commercial boundary), Verkada vs Flock Safety (vehicle intelligence vs building security). Or start from how Verkada pricing works.
We'll design the system, price it camera by camera and door by door, and set up a 30-day trial.