Ring Alarm, video doorbells will soon lock free features behind a paywall
By
Jon Bitner
Ring is making a few changes to its Ring Protect subscription plans. Later this month, membership will be required for select features that were previously free. Specifically, new customers who pick up a Ring Alarm will need to sign up for the premium service to Arm or Disarm their device from the Ring app and receive digital notifications.
Ring Alarm isn’t the only product seeing changes, as Ring doorbells and cameras will also need a subscription to set them into Home or Away mode. The same goes for customizing settings to enable Live View with each of the above modes. Changes to the Ring Protect plans will take place on March 29, although they won’t impact all users.
If you owned a Ring Alarm before March 29, you can continue using your product without any changes. But anything purchased after that date will now require a Ring Protect subscription.
It’s a different story for Ring video doorbells and cameras, as both existing and future Ring doorbells and cameras will require a Ring Protect Plan to use Home and Away Modes through Alexa or Ring app.
Thankfully, the price of Ring Protect isn’t changing. A Basic Plan still clocks in at $4 per month or $40 per year, while the Plus and Pro plans are $10 per month and $20 per month, respectively. But since new users won’t be able to Arm or Disarm their Ring Alarm remotely without a membership, they’re all but required to join the program. Without signing up, you’ll only be able to perform these features locally on the Ring Alarm keypad.
Unsure if your favorite features will still be accessible for free? Check out the Ring Support page, which goes in-depth about the new pricing structure and discusses what products (and which customers) will see a change in service.
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Jon Bitner