Indigo + Security Camera Plugin > SecuritySpy

Posted on
Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:28 pm
Different Computers offline
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Joined: Jan 02, 2016
Location: East Coast

Indigo + Security Camera Plugin > SecuritySpy

OK, first, a caveat: I don't own and have not owned SecuritySpy. Mainly because it's VERY expensive for what it does with the number of cameras I have/want. I used EvoCam for a while, but it's at end of life and it was a processor hog.

That said, for anyone willing to fiddle a bit, and already owning a Mac less than 5 years old, it's just plainly a no-brainer: Indigo + Security Camera Plugin from Bertbeats Security Spy hands down.

Why?

With any reasonable number of cameras, SecuritySpy costs MORE than Indigo. And does MUCH LESS. With Indigo + SC plugin, you get a theoretically infinite number of cameras, with motion detection, recording, etc. for a price lower than SecuritySpy charges for 8 cameras. And of course, SS does not control/monitor a dozen other protocols and literally thousands of other kinds of home automation devices from pool heaters to door sensors to WIFI access points, from 20 year old X10 plugs to brand-new on the market Fibaro key fob controllers, from standard Foscam HD cameras to software based IP cams running on old cell phones.

Yes, there's a Security Spy plugin for Indigo that I hear is excellent. But for new users who don't already own SS, I can't imagine why they would buy it if they've already decided on Indigo! And if someone is a Mac user who doesn't mind installing things like brew, imagemagick and pillow and is thinking about SecuritySpy, they would be well served to pick Indigo even if all they want to do is monitor cameras.

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:57 am
PeteVis offline
Posts: 180
Joined: Jun 19, 2015

Re: Indigo + Security Camera Plugin > SecuritySpy

I use both Indigo and SecuritySpy (8 cameras), and I'm very happy with the combination (thanks to Perry's excellent plugin).

I understand that the Security Camera Plugin is a nice (and especially cheaper) alternative, but the reason I (and people like me) opt for SecuritySpy is that it is an elegant solution that works out of the box.
As you said "for anyone willing to fiddle a bit" and your last sentence also describes perfectly why anyone would choose one over the other.

I chose SecuritySpy over the fiddlyness of the Security Camera Plugin
I chose a Mac over the fiddlyness of a PC
I chose Indigo over the fiddlyness of Domoticz..openhab...etc..

I see lots of plugins in the Indigo ecosystem that speak to me feature-wise, but when I take a deeper look and see how complicated they often are to configure I just loose all interest.
(on a sidenote, I'm hoping dearly for an elegant non-fiddly graphing and charting solution...and yes, I'm willing to pay for it).

Posted on
Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:02 am
aldera offline
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Joined: Aug 30, 2016
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: Indigo + Security Camera Plugin > SecuritySpy

I guess I'll give the contrarian viewpoint. Why would anyone not use SecuritySpy (SS)?

Yes, there is a cost to using SS. I have 7 cameras, so an 8 camera license was about $24/camera. However, this is a one-time fee. There's no annual subscription fee.

The company has been around for quite a while. No guarantees, obviously, but they do have a track record. That's important to me.

The product works as a standalone system. I can set it up and do whatever I want with it, independent of Indigo. It has a well-designed preference panel and I can connect it to my FTP server or anywhere else to download and store images and video files. It can automatically purge these files based on disk availability or time period. I can set masks over the camera image to have only certain parts of the displayed image trip the motion detection. There are numerous options available to tailor the system for your needs or you can just leave it set to the default options. It's as powerful or simple as you want.

Since it is a standalone system, I don't have to worry that a future update of Indigo will affect it. Plugins can break and depending on the plugin developer, you might have to wait for a fix. Also, you have to depend on the good will of the developer as far as support goes. Don't get me wrong. I really appreciate all the good work and effort that the community developers provide to the Indigo ecosystem. I'm always amazed at all the time they spend developing and supporting their plugins. Truly a generous group of people. My point is that I can fire off an email to SS and expect some level of service from them. I can't, and shouldn't expect it from those that provide a service for free.

There is a plugin from the "Cynical" developer that provides an excellent interface to Indigo. It's nice to have but if he should decide to drop out in the future, my system will run just fine and provide me everything I need.

Personally, I think the cost for SS is pretty reasonable considering all it does. My time is valuable, and for me, it's a very small price to pay for that convenience. I don't have to screw around and install extra python libraries or anything else to make it work. However, I do understand that for some people, purchasing this product may not be financially justifiable. Also, for some people, the features and capabilities of the Security Camera plugin might be all they need.

I guess my overall point is that I don't think the Security Camera Plugin is a no-brainer and wins hands down. I could certainly fiddle around and make it work, but for me, SS is the no-brainer.

Posted on
Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:32 pm
neilk offline
Posts: 714
Joined: Jul 13, 2015
Location: Reading, UK

Re: Indigo + Security Camera Plugin > SecuritySpy

Just another view on security spy, and it is the jump per camera (I have 9) and the price doubles to cover my use case. I don't expect them to make a license model just for me, but I do wonder how much more they would sell, or indeed how many of the 8,16 and unlimited models they actually sell with a different model (for me £33 per camera). I actually use blue iris which is $60 for unlimited cameras and works really well on a headless windows box. I rarely need to touch it and the iOS app is excellent. I don't bother but you can easily integrate it for triggers, and I do expose the streams to control pages and you can also get at an HTTPS we front end that prevents port forwarding any cameras. It does require a reasonable amount of horsepower on the pc.

It was a hangover from my Vera days, and Indigo made me a Mac convert. In some ways having a single server solution would be good, but the windows box is in an anonymous industrial enclosure bolted to my rafters and just works.

The BlueIris developer constantly updates, adds new features and camera definitions, but does charge for major version changes.

I specialist app does give a lot of flexibility, control and tuning of motion detection, and once setup I can just forget it as disk housekeeping etc is all taken care of much like the capabilities in Security Spy.

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