Watchbird watches every camera, day and night. Your phone only buzzes when something is real.
An AI guard for the security cameras you already own.
From $99/mo · Watchbird Hub included · No contract
Illustration, not a live camera feed.
Every camera you own · watched day and night · checked before it reaches you
Watchbird plugs into the system you already own. Tested with Lorex and Dahua recorders; most cameras and recorders that speak RTSP or ONVIF should work.
Watchbird comes from hekaton, Greek for "a hundred". It's named for the hundred-eyed guardian of Greek myth, who always kept some eyes open.
Every camera, every minute, day and night. Headlights, cats and rain each get a look, and then Watchbird lets them go.
When something is real, one light comes on. That's the moment your phone buzzes.
Cats, headlights and rain set off ordinary motion alerts all night. Watchbird looks at each one, and double-checks the few that might be real, so you get far fewer false alarms. The real ones still get through.
Scroll through an example night on one driveway camera.
A motion sensor sees movement. Watchbird sees car lights on an empty driveway.
Let goAn animal, not a person. Nothing to wake you for.
Let goA face Watchbird already knows, on the sidewalk, not in your driveway.
Known · no alertBranches and raindrops set off motion alerts all night. Watchbird knows it's weather.
Let goThe Watchbird Hub spots a person right away, on its own AI chip, in your home.
CheckingA real person, not a shadow. Not a face you know. Inside your car's watch zone.
ConfirmedOne alert, with a picture of who's there and what they're doing.
AlertLights and siren go off on supported cameras (a Pro feature, coming soon). They leave, and the clip is saved.
HandledNo buzz. Open the app and everything since midnight is summed up in a few sentences.
RecapAn example night, for illustration. Real timing depends on your cameras and internet connection.
Watchbird learns your family, neighbors and regular visitors. When it sees someone new, it asks you once, and remembers the answer.
Familiar faces is off until you turn it on. Your face library stays on your Hub.
You get one quiet note when a package arrives. If someone you don't know walks off with it, you'll know right away, with the clip.
Example alerts.
Box in your car, a bike or the grill. If someone walks into it, you know right away. Watchbird also logs the plates that pass and learns the regulars, so it notices the car that keeps circling.
Sample plates.
Ask a question the way you'd ask a person. Watchbird searches every camera and answers with the clips. Tap a question to try it.
Sample answers from a demo home. Plus a quiet morning recap in the app, no question needed.
Your recorder logs every shadow and headlight. Watchbird turns the same day into a few moments worth seeing. Drag through the day, or press play and pick a speed, just like the timeline in the app.
Front door camera, example day.
When something is real, the alert says who, where and what they're doing, with a picture. Every camera live, a timeline you scroll with your thumb, and questions answered. On iPhone and on the web.
The whole property at a glance, with a short recap on top.
Drag the timeline with your thumb. Play at up to 16×. Tap LIVE to jump back.
First time Watchbird has seen them. They took a package from your porch.
One tap teaches Watchbird who belongs. Strangers stay flagged.
Swipe to see more
Some of this is ready at launch and some is coming soon. Every card says which.
Flash a camera's light or sound its siren right from the alert, before you've even opened the app.
On cameras with a built-in light or siren.
A text with the photo asks "Is this someone you know?" Reply SIREN, OK or CALL. If it's serious and you don't answer, Watchbird phones you, and everyone else on your list, with a calm AI voice that says what's happening.
Add as many family numbers as you like. Each person opts in.
When there's a real break-in and nobody at home answers, a real person on our team checks the video and helps get police on the way.
Opt-in. Rolling out after launch, where available.
Link an Alarm.com system: Home and Away follow your alarm, and your outdoor sirens can sound when the alarm goes off.
Alarm.com panels. More systems later.
Flames or smoke that stay on an outdoor camera for about 12 seconds trigger an alert. A flickering sunset or headlights don't.
An extra early warning, not a replacement for smoke alarms.
The same quiet guard for storefronts, offices and small properties. Watchbird knows your staff and your regular deliveries, and tells you when something after hours is real.
No new cameras and no wires to run. If you can plug in a router, you can set up Watchbird.
Connect the Watchbird Hub to your router with the included cable, then plug in power.
Open the Watchbird app and scan the code on the bottom of the Hub. It joins your account securely, with no passwords to type.
Watchbird finds your recorder and cameras on its own. Type the camera password once and every camera appears, named and ready.
In the box: Watchbird Hub · Ethernet cable · Power supply
The Watchbird Hub sits next to your router and looks at every camera right in your home, on its own dedicated AI chip. Its light stays dim while it watches, and glows only when Watchbird has checked an event and found it real.
Design rendering. Final Hub design and specs may change before shipping.
To double-check an alert, Watchbird sends a few still frames from that event to its AI partner, Anthropic's Claude. Prefer that nothing goes to the AI partner? Turn on Local-only mode.
Off. A few still frames from a real event get a second look from the AI partner, so far fewer false alarms reach you.On. No frames or text go to the AI partner. Alerts rely on the Hub alone, so you may see a few more false alarms.
A preview of the switch in the Watchbird app. Local-only mode is available on every plan.
They stay on your recorder, and event clips stay on your Hub. Video streams, encrypted, only to your own phone when you open it.
Only for a possible real event, and only a few still frames. Anthropic doesn't train on them. Our servers don't keep them.
The Hub never accepts connections from the internet. It only dials out through an encrypted tunnel.
Face prints never leave your home, and familiar faces is off until you turn it on.
Most guard services charge per camera or make you buy their hardware. Watchbird covers the cameras you already own for one monthly price.
| Feature | Watchbird | Live-agent guard servicese.g. Ring Virtual Security Guard, SimpliSafe Active Guard | Per-camera monitoringe.g. Deep Sentinel, remote video monitoring companies | Business camera platformse.g. Verkada |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price with 8 cameras | $99/mo flat, Hub included | ~$80–99+/mo, plus their system & plan1 | ~$50–150 per camera, per month2 | ~$220 per camera, per year, plus their cameras3 |
| Works with cameras you already own | Most RTSP / ONVIF cameras & recorders | Mostly their own (some ONVIF via Ring Alarm Pro)1 | Varies | Their cameras |
| Live human agents | No. AI, and you decide | Yes | Yes | Varies |
| Events reviewed | No per-event fees | Capped on some plans (e.g. 175/mo)1 | Varies | Varies |
| Recordings stay in your home | Yes | Cloud | Varies | Varies |
| Ask questions in plain English | Across every camera it watches | On their own cameras (some plans) | Varies | On their own cameras |
Monthly plans have no contract, so you can cancel anytime. Every plan includes the Watchbird Hub, the iPhone app, the web portal and automatic updates. Nothing to pay during early access.
Works out to as little as $7.78 per camera, per month.
The Watchbird Hub is included with every plan. If you cancel, your cameras and recorder keep recording like before; remote viewing and AI alerts pause.
The first Watchbird Hubs ship to New Jersey homes and small businesses. You plug it in and scan it: no installer, no visit. Somewhere else? Join the list anyway, and we'll tell you when Watchbird reaches you.
Join the early-access listNo. Watchbird works with the cameras and recorder you already have. We've tested Lorex and Dahua recorders, and most cameras and recorders that support RTSP or ONVIF should work. Not sure about yours? Try the camera checker, or ask us in the early-access form.
Usually not. Those cameras send video to their own cloud and don't offer a local video stream for Watchbird to watch. Watchbird works with recorders (NVRs) and IP cameras.
No. Recordings stay on your recorder and event clips stay on your Watchbird Hub. When you watch live or play a clip on your phone, the video streams to it encrypted. It's relayed through Watchbird's servers only when a direct connection isn't possible, and it's never stored there. To double-check an alert, Watchbird sends a few still frames from that event to its AI partner, Anthropic's Claude, and each phone alert carries a picture through our push service. See everything that leaves your home.
A switch in the Watchbird app. With it on, no still frames or text are sent to the AI partner, and alerts rely on the Watchbird Hub alone. Your video still streams, encrypted, to your own phone when you open it. Because alerts skip the second check, you may see a few more false alarms.
No. Watchbird is AI, not a call center. It decides what's worth your attention and tells you; you decide what to do next, like checking the clip or calling the police. If you turn on Emergency backup (coming soon, opt-in), a person on our team sees your video only during a confirmed break-in when nobody answers. If you want live human agents watching all the time, guard services offer that at a higher price.
Your cameras keep recording, and the Hub keeps watching and logging on its own. New phone alerts and AI double-checks resume once you're back online. If the AI double-check is ever unavailable while you're online, alerts still come from the Hub alone.
Watchbird is in early access and launches first in New Jersey. Leave your email and we'll tell you when Hubs are ready. There's nothing to pay until then.
Yes. Monthly plans have no contract. If you cancel, your cameras and recorder keep recording exactly like they did before Watchbird; remote viewing and AI alerts pause.
Familiar faces is off until you turn it on. Some states, like Illinois, Texas and Washington, have strict biometric laws; Watchbird will show the notice and ask for consent where it's required.
Yes, that's what the Business plan is for. Check your local rules on recording employees and customers and post notices where required. Face recognition stays off unless you turn it on.
Those plans add AI search to their own cameras, in their own cloud. Watchbirds the cameras you already own, from most brands, on a Hub in your home, for one flat price.
It comes from hekaton, Greek for "a hundred". Watchbird is named for the hundred-eyed guardian of Greek myth, who always kept some eyes open. Say it HEK-tuh.
Get early access to Watchbird. We'll email you when the first Watchbird Hubs are ready. No payment now.
This form collects your email and, if you fill them in, your plan, camera count, town or ZIP, camera brand and message. It also notes how you found us: the website that sent you, or the campaign tag in the link you followed. Cloudflare, the company that hosts this site, stores the entries for us. We use them to send you one email when Hubs are ready and to plan where Watchbird launches first. We never sell them or share them for advertising. Want your entry deleted? Send this form again with the same email and the word "delete" in the message box, and we'll remove what we have for that address. A full privacy policy for the Watchbird app and Hub will be posted before launch.
