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FTP Camera Showdown

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Whether it be for your home, your business, your nursery, your charity, or your dog’s house (you know, just because), security cameras are an important service. If you have a good camera setup, it provides you with a glorious, constant stream of video evidence, and as any person who’s spent a day in law school will tell you, video doesn’t lie. (That may not be a thing. I didn’t go to law school.)
There are many reasons to have a security camera. For that reason, there are many different services to look at when you’re making the decision to buy one. Today, I take a look at two of those companies: Angelcam and CameraFTP.
Both companies offer similar features. Both utilize IP cameras into a CCTV system. Both of them offer cloud storage with varying tiers. They also both offer smartphone/tablet access so a customer can watch their stream from anywhere in the world. So when it comes down to the meat and potatoes, both services are *fairly* similar. However, they do offer a few important differences.
One of the big things I noticed between the two is that in their bundles, CameraFTP offers bundles that include cameras. Angelcam does not do this; they require a customer to bring their own camera over. They do have a page where customers can buy cameras, but it is simply an Amazon link. I understand that most people will already be looking at their own cameras if they’re considering such a thing, but it would be nice if Angelcam could offer the hardware if they’re offering software. That way, potential customers are only stopping at one place.
This is not to say Angelcam doesn’t have its merits. The features they bring to the table simply blows CameraFTP out of the water. CameraFTP is very rudimentary in this aspect. You get motion detection and night vision. That appears to be all. Angelcam offers time lapsing, live streaming, car counting, an anonymizer (so you can blur anyone’s face out that might be upset you’re recording them), a heat map to show which areas you’re recording have more movement, and a people counter, among other features.
Let’s take a look at pricing next. CameraFTP offers a very large quantity of different plans varying on how many cameras you’re using, the resolution of the video, how long you want video kept (up to a year), etc. However, the standard plan offers 5 frames/second, 7 days of retention, phone support, and a daily report for $5.31/month (Or $3.33 if you buy a camera).
Angelcam offers a free plan with what appears to be very rudimentary streaming and ads on your page. However, all the features that they offer seem to come with their standard and premium plans. Those run $4/month and $20/month, respectively.
As far as which service I would recommend, honestly I would say it depends on your needs. If you are needing basic security, CameraFTP appears to be your better option. You end up paying less if you buy a camera through them, and it will get you where you need to be just fine. However, if you are a business owner who wants to look at all the different metrics of your shop, Angelcam appears to be your route. You’re paying more money, but you also get a more comprehensive analysis versus just basic surveillance.
Image By No machine-readable author provided. Arnaud 25 assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

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