Ask five vendors what a jobsite camera costs and you'll get five pricing models: hardware purchases, hardware leases, per-camera subscriptions, per-project software fees, and "call us." This guide lays out the numbers that are actually published, so you can budget before you talk to anyone's sales team.
The three price tiers
| Tier | Typical cost | What you get | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary camera services | $130–$600+ /mo per camera, plus hardware | Vendor-owned cameras (lease or buy), managed connectivity, time-lapse, support | TrueLook, OxBlue, EarthCam |
| Budget time-lapse utilities | $7–$60 /mo per camera feed | Bring your own camera; live view and time-lapse, little else | Teleport, IPCamLive, CameraFTP |
| BYO-camera workflow platforms | ~$99–$299 /mo per project | Your cameras + client portals, verified reports, alerts | SiteWatch |
Proprietary camera services: the numbers
TrueLook is the rare incumbent with public pricing: as of mid-2026 their published plans run $129/month for the entry tier (as low as $99 with prepayment), $359/month mid-tier, and $599/month premium — per camera, with their proprietary hardware leased or purchased on top.
OxBluedoesn't publish a price list, but their own cost articles describe hardware from roughly $2,000 to $20,000 per unit and monthly service between $200 and $900 depending on resolution and update frequency. EarthCam is similarly quote-based.
For a 12-month project with two cameras, you're realistically budgeting $5,000–$20,000+ at this tier. What you get for it: ruggedized hardware, cellular connectivity someone else manages, and marketing-grade time-lapse. If the camera budget is a rounding error on your project, this tier is genuinely convenient.
Budget time-lapse utilities: the numbers
At the other end, software-only services connect to cameras you already own. Teleport publishes plans from $7/month (hourly captures) to roughly $44–$62/month for one-minute intervals. IPCamLive is pay-as-you-go per camera with a free tier. CameraFTP runs as little as ~$10/month per camera at modest resolution.
The catch: these are time-lapse utilities. You get a live view and a video file. No client-facing portal, no progress reports, no evidence trail, no alerts when the camera dies. Fine for a marketing time-lapse; thin for running a build.
The camera itself: cheaper than you think
A solid outdoor IP camera (Reolink, Amcrest, Hikvision-class) costs $60–$250. Solar-plus-cellular models for sites without power or WiFi run $300–$900 plus a $15–$40/month data SIM. Nearly all of them can email snapshots or upload over FTP out of the box — which is exactly how platforms like SiteWatch ingest from them with no extra hardware.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Per camera or per project? Per-camera pricing punishes you for better coverage.
- Who owns the footage when I cancel? Proprietary services often archive on their terms, not yours.
- Can my client see it without an account?If sharing progress means forwarding screenshots, the tool isn't doing its job.
- Will it hold up in a dispute?Timestamps and tamper-evident records (content hashing, write-once storage) are the difference between "photos" and "evidence."
- What happens when the camera goes offline? Silent gaps discovered at month-end are the most expensive failure mode in jobsite documentation.
The honest bottom line
If you run megaprojects and want white-glove hardware service, the proprietary tier earns its price. If you just want a time-lapse for marketing, a $10 utility is enough. If you're a builder who needs to prove progressto clients and lenders — without $300/month per camera — the middle path is a BYO-camera platform: commodity hardware, professional evidence. That's the gap SiteWatch was built for, at $99–$299 per project with unlimited photos and free early access today.
Pricing referenced from vendors' published pages and materials as of July 2026; check current vendor sites before budgeting. We compete in this market — read critically, here and everywhere.