Dedicated baby monitors have quietly crept up in price. Premium app-connected units like Nanit sell for around £240 to £300 with a stand included, before any subscription, and even mid-range travel monitors aren't cheap. Meanwhile a good smart indoor camera does the core job for a fraction of that. A clear live feed to your phone, night vision, two-way talk, and sound and motion alerts. The honest question is which smart camera actually works well as a baby monitor, and where a purpose-built monitor still earns its price. The two we stock sit far enough apart on price to be worth comparing directly.
Why a smart camera instead of a "baby monitor"
It usually comes down to value and flexibility. A smart indoor camera gives you the same live view, night vision, and two-way audio as a dedicated monitor. But it is cheaper and works anywhere you have Wi-Fi. It also becomes a general home or pet camera the day the nursery days end. The trade-offs are real. You view on your phone rather than a dedicated always-on parent unit. And you rely on your home Wi-Fi. For most families that is a good deal. For some, a dedicated screen is worth paying for.
The cheapest that works
Tapo C100 Full HD Indoor Camera: £17.99
1080p, night vision and two-way audio, from the same Tapo range as the step-up pick further down. What it does not have is pan and tilt: you aim it at the cot once and that is the view you get.
For a newborn in a cot that is genuinely all you need, and it is the cheapest way to stop guessing whether they are asleep. It stops being enough the day they can move across the room.
Verdict: Buy this if the baby cannot roll yet and the budget is tight.
More resolution for the same money
ZOSI 4K Indoor Wi-Fi Camera, 360 Pan and Tilt: £21.24
4K with full pan and tilt. It lands within a pound of the Reolink below. That is more resolution than a nursery needs, which is the point. It is the one most worth keeping when the nursery days end and it becomes a general home camera.
Verdict: Effectively the same money as the Reolink, so choose on whether you would rather have the extra resolution or the more established brand.
The budget pick
Reolink Indoor Camera 4MP 360°: £25.49
A 4MP pan-and-tilt indoor camera that works well as a baby monitor. Full 360-degree coverage, so you can pan across the room. Night vision, two-way audio, and sound and motion alerts to your phone. At £25.49, it's genuinely cheap, cheaper than almost any purpose-built monitor, and it doubles as a home security camera later.
Resolution: 4MP, sharp enough to clearly see your baby's face and movement at night.
Coverage: 360-degree pan and tilt, so one camera covers a whole nursery rather than a fixed angle.
Alerts and audio: Motion and sound detection with two-way talk to soothe from another room.
What you give up: A single lens, so no wide-plus-zoom dual view. As with most cameras, some features and cloud storage may sit behind an optional subscription. Check for local or SD-card storage if you want to avoid ongoing costs.
Pros:
- Very low price, undercuts dedicated monitors heavily
- 360-degree pan/tilt covers the whole room
- Night vision and two-way audio
- Repurposes as a home security camera
Cons:
- Single lens (no dual wide + zoom)
- Viewed on your phone, not a dedicated parent unit
Verdict: The best pick if you want a capable baby monitor that doubles as more, for the least money and are happy viewing on your phone.
The step-up pick
Tapo C840 2K Dual-Lens: £149.99
The C840 comes from TP-Link's Tapo range. It is a 2K dual-lens camera: one lens for the wide view, one for detail. You can watch the whole cot and zoom in at the same time. At £149.99, it's still far below premium baby-monitor prices, and TP-Link's app and track record are more polished than most budget brands.
Dual lens: Wide plus detail view together, the main reason to step up from a single-lens camera.
Resolution: 2K across both lenses for a crisp image day or night.
Ecosystem: Part of the mature Tapo range, which tends to mean a more reliable app and longer support.
What you give up versus a dedicated monitor: Still phone-based and Wi-Fi-dependent, like any smart camera.
Pros:
- Dual-lens wide + zoom in one camera
- 2K resolution, polished Tapo app
- Established brand and support
Cons:
- Several times the price of the Reolink
- Still a phone-viewed, Wi-Fi-based setup
Verdict: The better pick if you want the dual-lens wide-and-zoom view and a more polished app, and don't mind paying more for it.
What you'd actually be giving up versus a dedicated monitor
Being honest, a purpose-built monitor like Nanit adds three things a general camera does not. A dedicated always-on parent screen. Sleep tracking, with breathing-band add-ons. And a closed system that does not lean on your home Wi-Fi or your phone. Some of that is genuinely useful, especially the sleep analytics for first-time parents who want the data. What it is not is essential. The core job is seeing and hearing your baby, and a good smart camera does that for a fraction of the price. Want sleep tracking and a standalone screen? Pay for the dedicated monitor. Want a clear feed, night vision and two-way talk? A smart camera is the value choice.
Quick comparison
| Tapo C100 | ZOSI 4K | Reolink | Tapo C840 | Dedicated monitor (e.g. Nanit) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £17.99 | £21.24 | £25.49 | £149.99 | Around £240 to £300 |
| Resolution | 1080p | 4K | 4MP | 2K dual-lens | Varies |
| Pan / tilt | Fixed | 360° | 360° | Fixed dual-lens | Usually fixed |
| Night vision | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Two-way audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep tracking | No | No | No | No | Yes (premium) |
| Dedicated parent screen | No (phone) | No (phone) | No (phone) | No (phone) | Yes |
| Best for | Cot, tight budget | Keeping it afterwards | Cheapest capable monitor | Wide + zoom, polished app | Sleep data + standalone screen |
Frequently asked
Can a smart camera really work as a baby monitor? Yes. The core baby-monitor features are exactly what a good indoor smart camera does: live video, night vision, two-way talk, and sound and motion alerts. You view on your phone instead of a dedicated screen, which suits most families and costs far less.
Reolink or Tapo, which should I choose? The Reolink is the value pick, with 360-degree pan and tilt at a very low price. The Tapo C840 costs more but adds a dual-lens wide-plus-zoom view and a more polished app. Choose whether the dual lens and app matter enough to pay several times more.
Do I need a subscription? Not necessarily. Many features work without one, but some cloud storage or extras can sit behind a subscription. If you want to avoid ongoing costs, check for local or SD-card storage before buying.
Is a phone-based monitor reliable overnight? For most homes, yes, though it depends on your Wi-Fi. If you want a system that never relies on your phone or home network, that's the argument for a dedicated monitor with its own parent unit.
Will it still be useful after the baby stage? That's a real advantage of a smart camera. When the nursery days end, it becomes a general home or pet camera, which a single-purpose baby monitor never can.
How we priced this
Both the Reolink and Tapo figures are read from the shops themselves and refresh on their own, so they follow the retailer rather than this article. The dedicated-monitor figure is an indicative UK street price for premium units, not a specific RRP. Nanit's site is linked above if you would rather see their current line-up. The cheaper cameras genuinely lack a dedicated monitor's extras, such as sleep tracking and a standalone screen. This page says so rather than pretending the gap is not there.
The bottom line
You need to see and hear your baby reliably. A good smart camera does that, which is most of why the dedicated units struggle to justify themselves. For the lowest price with full room coverage, the Reolink is the value pick. For a dual-lens wide-and-zoom view and a more polished app, the Tapo C840 is the step up. Both sit well below dedicated-monitor money. If you specifically want sleep tracking and a standalone parent screen, a purpose-built monitor genuinely earns the extra.
Sorting out feeding too? See our comparison of the cheap wearable breast pump options. Still choosing a car seat? That is the one category where paying more may buy you something real, and we covered what a cheap i-Size seat gives up.
Everything else we track for babies and toddlers sits in Baby & Kids. Prices there are today's, not the day we wrote this.