Best Indoor Security Cameras of 2023

If you’re looking for peace of mind, there’s nothing quite like having a network of reliable security cameras protecting your property. Not only will they help you keep tabs on things indoors and out, modern equipment will boast features like AI-powered facial recognition, activity zones, and color night vision to better keep watch over what’s important to you.

These days, home security cameras can do anything from alert you when the kids come home from school to allowing you to holler at your dog to get off the couch. They’ll let you know if a stranger is walking though your yard, and they can even help you alert authorities at the push of a button. The exact home security camera you need depends on a variety of factors, though, including your budget and your own individual needs. It can seem overwhelming, but don’t worry — we’ve compiled a list of the best home security cameras on the market today.

How to Hide a Security Camera Indoors

Canary Pro on Shelf

Everyone’s needs differ when it comes to home security. A set of powerful cameras displayed proudly and prominently around the house can be an effective crime deterrent, but for others, a more discreet setup is necessary.

At some point, you might find a need to hide an indoor camera somewhere inside your home, whether you’re trying to monitor your kids’ virtual school lessons or you just have a less gadget-forward aesthetic in mind. Whatever your reasons, here are a few tips on how to hide a security camera indoors:

• Hide the camera inside other objects. Cut a hole into an inexpensive decorative item, like a book or stuffed animal, as long as it doesn’t look exceptionally valuable (you don’t want anyone getting curious, right?).
• If you’re willing to go a little MacGyver, you could use a tissue box with a mirror or another shiny desk accessory to obscure and hide the camera.
• Going further, you could choose to display a battery-powered camera in an area that’s already subtle, like a high corner of a bookshelf, or a high ceiling.
• Choose a camera that blends in with your decor. When we tested the Canary Pro camera, for instance, we loved how well it blended in with our mahogany bookshelf.
• And one more note on color blending: We’ve found a few brands that offer a choice of black and white cameras, so you can pick and choose with ease. Amcrest’s massive camera lineup includes both black and white models, which is great when you’ve got multiple motifs going on in your home.
• And, don’t forget to hide those wires, too. If you’re dealing with a plug-in camera, you don’t want those pesky power cords giving you away, do you?

As you can see, there are several different ways to hide a security camera indoors. Consider this just a sampler, as there are plenty of other ways to get creative and keep your cam out of sight.

How Many Security Cameras Do I Need?

If you’re new to the world of home security cameras, you might find that it’s hard to tell exactly how many security cameras you’re going to need to install around your home. In our experience running tests and writing hands-on reviews of the best security cameras, we’ve found that there’s really only one way to determine how many cameras you’re going to need.

Walk around your home, with a pen and paper, and plot out which areas of your home you want to cover.

Why do we advise this? Because this is when you’ll really want to hone in on the vulnerabilities of your property. In our tests of outdoor security cameras, we look for dark corners or pathways where burglars (or critters!) might sneak in. We’ve found in our research that many security camera users tend to focus more heavily on the front of their homes, sometimes leading them to neglect the darker areas in the back or side.

And, as we know, danger doesn’t lurk only in the great outdoors; we’ve seen numerous benefits to installing cameras indoors, too. Got a couple of ankle biters that need an extra set of eyes? Or perhaps a home improvement project where you can’t always be present? Indoor cameras have long served as excellent everyday household monitors, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how handy these things can be for dog owners, too. (Psst… see our roundup of the best security systems for pet owners.)
To address those vulnerabilities, consider hallways, stairwells, and entryways. So you might need more security cameras than you think. We’ve tested a couple of cams from Google Nest that take a more comprehensive approach to security, with wider lenses, motion tracking and pan-and-tilt features. Remember that you might be able to cover one whole room in your home with one camera; but in other areas like hallways, you might find more benefit in a traditional bullet camera, with simple motion detection and high-quality video.

Picking out which camera is right for you might be a bit of a challenge, though. To help, we’ve created this chart that compares one of the most popular indoor cameras from each of our favorite brands above side-by-side so you can see the differences and similarities at a glance.

Popular Wireless Cameras at a Glance

Whatever your security needs are, the ideal outcome is that you’ll always know who and what is moving around your property.

Of course, we can’t say exactly how many security cameras you need, as home security needs differ from person to person. But getting to know the nooks and crannies of your home – and the belongings you hold dear – is key to determining how many security cameras you should buy.

Features of the Best Indoor Security Cameras

Not all indoor security cameras are the same. There is quite a bit of variance among features of indoor security cameras. The exact features that you need will depend on what you use the camera for, how big your indoor space is and how many people are in your household. Here are some of the most important features of indoor security cameras.