shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use Wyze?

Budget smart home security cameras and devices - wyze.com

Depends. Buy Wyze for cheap DIY monitoring of low-stakes areas if you keep firmware updated and expect to pay for Cam Plus. Avoid it for anything privacy-sensitive or if you need dependable customer support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources: Reddit, Wyze forums, Trustpilot, CVE databases, and tech press.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

from ~$19

Wyze hardware

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Cam PlusPaid subscription per camera

Best for

  • Budget DIY home monitoring
  • Renters and first-time buyers
  • Pet and baby cam on a budget
  • Smart home tinkerers

Not for

  • Anyone filming sensitive areas — strangers once saw 13,000 feeds
  • Small businesses needing SLAs and support accountability
  • Buyers who expect working customer service after the sale
  • People unwilling to pay subscriptions for full features

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Cheap hardware doubles as a subscription funnel; AI features need Cam Plus.

high

Support complaints are persistent; replacements and fixes reportedly stall.

medium

Group view caps at 10 cameras — plan around it for bigger installs.

medium

Outdated firmware left cams open to remote-access exploits; update immediately.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Cams start around $19 — among the cheapest usable security cameras.
  • Independently reviewed as strong value for the price.
  • Wide lineup: cameras, doorbell, smart lock, floodlight, sensors.
  • Easy installation and setup reported by buyers.
  • Security updates and hardening shipped after 2024 criticism.

Cons

  • 2024 incident briefly exposed ~13,000 customers' feeds to strangers.
  • 2019 data breach hit the company.
  • Multiple CVEs, including buffer overflows in Cam v3.
  • Customer support widely described as unresponsive.
  • Key detection features now sit behind Cam Plus subscription.

Sources & method

Analyzed 10/04/2026 - 10 sources - Checkered: 2019 breach, 2024 incident exposing ~13,000 feeds, several CVEs; hardening claimed in 2025.

official x1review x4security x3news x2
  • 2024 feed-exposure incident, An outage plus a third-party caching issue let ~13,000 users briefly view strangers' camera feeds.
  • 2019 data breach, Wyze Labs suffered a data breach affecting user data in December 2019.
  • CVE-2024-6249, Stack-based buffer overflow in Wyze Cam v3 TCP traffic.
  • AI/edge attack research, HiddenLayer demonstrated command injection and AI evasion against Wyze Cam hardware (Aug 2024).

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • from ~$19

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Cheapest credible option in category
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Buyers report easy install and setup
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Broad lineup, key features paywalled
  • Support quality: 1/5. Persistent unresponsive-support complaints
  • Security posture: 1/5. Breaches plus multiple CVEs since 2019
  • $19 Entry price Base Wyze Cam, per SafeHome review
  • $146M Funding Series B, 2021
  • ~13,000 users 2024 incident Briefly saw strangers' camera feeds
  • 4+ Public CVEs 2021–2024, incl. buffer overflows

Pricing

Wyze hardware

from ~$19

  • Cameras, doorbell, lock, floodlight, sensors
  • Basic app features included

Cam Plus

Paid subscription per camera

  • AI detections
  • Unlocks premium app features

Security

Checkered: 2019 breach, 2024 incident exposing ~13,000 feeds, several CVEs; hardening claimed in 2025.

  • 2024 feed-exposure incidentAn outage plus a third-party caching issue let ~13,000 users briefly view strangers' camera feeds.²
  • 2019 data breachWyze Labs suffered a data breach affecting user data in December 2019.³
  • CVE-2024-6249Stack-based buffer overflow in Wyze Cam v3 TCP traffic.⁴
  • AI/edge attack researchHiddenLayer demonstrated command injection and AI evasion against Wyze Cam hardware (Aug 2024).

What users say

Sentiment is sharply split: fans praise the value, while a vocal group cites declining quality, paywalls, and poor support.

“The worst customer service I've ever experienced”
Wyze forums
“Works pretty damn good”
Reddit, r/wyzecam
“Finally Done with Wyze! They jumped the shark.”
Reddit, r/wyzecam

Alternatives

Compare Wyze with each alternative.

  • Home Assistant + generic cams

    Local control path Wyze tinkerers jump to.

Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources: Reddit, Wyze forums, Trustpilot, CVE databases, and tech press.

$19 cams are real value, but 2024 exposed ~13,000 feeds, CVEs persist, and support is weak. Fine for low stakes.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources: Reddit, Wyze forums, Trustpilot, CVE databases, and tech press.

Sources

  1. review
  2. security
  3. security
  4. security
  5. news
  6. review
  7. review
  8. official
  9. news
  10. review

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.