Baby monitor cost calculator: what you'll really pay

How the calculator counts

1. The up-front price lands on day one. The monitor, the camera or the app you buy once counts at month zero, at the price we found on September 29, 2026.
2. Plans only for the features you tick. Nanit, Owlet and CuboAi all work without a subscription. Their plans enter the total only when you ask for sleep reports or video history, because that's what the plans sell.
3. The cheapest mix of monthly, yearly or lifetime is picked for you. Seven paid months of Mamoon cost less monthly ($27.93) than paid once ($29.99); from month eight the lifetime wins, so that's what gets counted. Annie's and Dormi's lifetime licenses win once enough years pile up.
4. Free trials are counted only when they're long enough. CuboAi's included first year of Premium comes off the first baby's time. The 3- and 7-day trials and Mamoon's 14 free days on the monthly plan are too short to matter and are left out.
5. For a second baby, hardware is reused and plans bill again. Switch on "A second baby later?" and the same length runs again: the monitor costs nothing more, subscriptions start over, lifetime licenses stay paid.
6. A phone you already own counts as $0. So does a supported Wi-Fi camera. If the crib needs a camera you don't have, the calculator adds the cheapest one that does the job, a $21.98 Tapo C200.

What a baby monitor costs over 6 months, 1, 2 and 4 years

Prices from the makers, the US App Store, Target and Babylist on September 29, 2026. Totals use the cheapest mix of monthly, yearly and lifetime for each length. *Philips hasn't published the price of Cry Translation after the 3 free months.

Four things that change the answer

The plan you may not need

Nanit, Owlet and CuboAi all work without a subscription: live video, sound alerts and the Owlet sock's readings are free. The plans add sleep reports and video history, and they're what turns a $289.99 Nanit into about $530 over two years. Untick "Sleep reports or video history" above and watch the smart cameras drop.

The phone in your drawer

An old phone is a free camera. With one on the crib, apps are the cheapest way in: Cloud Baby Monitor is $6.99 once on two iPhones, Mamoon $29.99 once. An iPhone XS or newer, or any Android 8 phone, will do; here's how to set one up.

iPhone plus Android pays twice

Baby Monitor 3G and Cloud Baby Monitor are bought once per platform, so a mixed household pays two app prices ($15.98 and $13.48), and Dormi doesn't run on an iPhone at all. Mamoon is paid once, on the watching phone, and the crib phone can be either.

Night vision needs infrared

A phone camera can't see a dark room without a dim night light. Wi-Fi cameras and classic monitors have infrared LEDs, and the cheapest is a $21.98 Tapo C200, which is why ticking "Sees in a dark room" adds a Tapo to the phone-app options. Every price with its source is in what a baby monitor really costs.

When paying once beats a subscription

More often than you'd think, and the calculator says so. With two iPhones and no need for cry detection, Cloud Baby Monitor ($6.99) or Baby Monitor 3G ($7.99) is the cheapest video monitor there is; on two Android phones, it's Dormi's $17 lifetime license. Planning a second child? Hardware is paid once, and so is Mamoon's lifetime price: over two babies × two years, Mamoon with a Tapo comes to $51.97 against $99.99 for the eufy C10. It's the apps billed monthly or yearly that a second child makes pricier.

What Mamoon's $29.99 buys is the part a one-time app doesn't do. It tells crying from fussing, a dog or a door, and wakes you even with the nursery sound muted, so white noise and rustles stay in the nursery. Put it on a $21.98 Tapo C200 and you get real infrared night vision; put it on an old phone and the hardware is free. There's no cloud and no account: the picture goes straight from the crib to your phone. Start with an old phone or a Tapo camera, or see how it compares with Baby Monitor 3G, eufy and Nanit.

Frequently asked questions