Video Doorbells - Subscription Traps?

[scfr]

We're having a new home built. It's semi-custom so we get to choose a lot of the features.
The discussion about a doorbell was brief - the vendor recommended we buy our own Ring Pro doorbell, waiting for a sale.
We've never had a video doorbell before.
When I started researching I realized that many/most video doorbells require a monthly or annual subscription to access video recordings. The subscription is either just for the doorbell (example: Ring at $30 per year) or for a service that covers multiple devices (example: Nest Aware). A few doorbells include some cloud storage but those don't seem to be very highly rated. I don't really see the point in getting one if I'm not going to be able to go back and look at the video if the need arises.

DH thinks it's "cool" that you can see who is at the door. I told him I can do the same - by looking out the window - HA!

I'm not going to get lured into a subscription.

Are video doorbells just a high-tech toy that traps you into a subscription?
Have any of you found one you like that does NOT require a subscription?

I may wind up going with just a plain old doorbell.

[kork13]

I have Ring, and they do allow you to operate it without a subscription. The only caveat is that you can only self-monitor, and I don't think you get any long term storage of the video from your camera. They may not advertise it much as an option (for obvious reasons), but it's totally available.

[ua_guy]

My sister has Ring. I think the subscription thing is a trap, but, they are providing a service of some value.

My bigger problem with Ring is that the placement and resolution doesn't always capture the data you might want. It's awesome to have a camera that could nab a guy stealing a package off your porch. But if the camera can't focus on a license plate number 25' away in the dark, now you're paying a subscription for souvenir videos of people stealing packages off your porch.

[disneysteve]

I know a bunch of people who have Ring doorbells and this is the first time I've ever heard that there was a fee involved. How about that? I have a coworker who has one. I'll have to ask her tomorrow if she has the paid service.

That said, $30/year sounds pretty darn reasonable. I wouldn't balk at doing that.

[scfr]

Thanks everyone. We've decided to go with a regular, no video doorbell.