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Use Your ADT Camera Without a Subscription

ADT is a mixed bag. The consumer ADT+ and Blue by ADT cameras are locked to ADT's app and cloud with no RTSP output — but many pro-installed ADT systems use OEM ONVIF cameras under the hood, which can be reachable by IP once you have the credentials. What you can do depends on which kind you have.

Does ADT lock your camera when you cancel?

Mostly yes. ADT's own-brand consumer cameras (ADT+, Blue by ADT) have no RTSP/ONVIF and record only through ADT's cloud. Some professionally-installed systems, however, use third-party ONVIF cameras that DO speak RTSP once you can log into them directly.

What happens when you cancel

Cancel ADT and the branded consumer cameras typically stop recording and lose app access. If your install uses OEM ONVIF cameras, those cameras keep running on your network — you just need the local IP and credentials (often held by the installer).

ADT gotchas worth knowing

  • Installers often keep the camera passwords — a factory reset lets you set your own.
  • Blue by ADT / ADT Self Setup cameras are cloud-locked like Ring/Nest.
  • Some ADT Command/Pulse installs use Alarm.com-style OEM cameras — see the Alarm.com guide.

Cancelling ADT: your options

  1. Identify your cameras: ADT-branded/Blue (cloud-locked) vs OEM ONVIF (recoverable).
  2. Cancel or downgrade the ADT video plan.
  3. For OEM ONVIF cameras: get the local IP + credentials (or factory-reset), then add them to RSC.
  4. For ADT-branded cameras: switch video to RSC on a phone or an ONVIF camera you control.

ADT vs a no-subscription setup

Stay with ADTNo-subscription with RSC
Monthly cost$8/mo video add-on and up; recording tied to the plan$0 Free · $22/mo Pro
Who holds your footageVendor cloudYou — local + your own cloud
If you stop payingRecording / clips lostYou own the recording pipeline
Extra hardwareNoneNone — reuse a phone or an ONVIF camera you own

The no-subscription alternative

If you have OEM ONVIF cameras, recover the local credentials (or factory-reset the camera to set your own) and add them to RSC over RTSP/ONVIF. If you have ADT-branded cloud cameras, there's no local stream — run RSC on a spare phone or an ONVIF camera you own instead.

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