If you’ve got a Ring doorbell ‘Protect Basic’ plan, you’ll see the cost of your subscription rise by 43% from Monday 11 March – whether you pay monthly or annually. However, if you want to stick with Ring, we’ve got a trick to beat the hikes for at least a year. Here’s what’s happening.
Home security manufacturer Ring, which is owned by Amazon, sells popular products including doorbells and security cameras that record what’s going on outside your home – whether you want one for security purposes or to keep track of deliveries, for example.
Alongside devices, Ring sells subscriptions that enable you to save and share video recordings from your doorbell or security camera. You don’t need a subscription to use a Ring device, but without it you can only watch footage live.
Ring is hiking the price of its basic subscription by 43%
The price of Ring’s ‘Protect Basic’ plan will increase on your first renewal date on or from 11 March:
- If you pay annually, prices per device will rise by £15 (43%) from £34.99 a year to £49.99 a year.
- If you pay monthly, prices per device will rise by £1.50 (43%) from £3.49 a month to £4.99 a month.
Currently on a free trial? If you subscribe and your first billing date is on or after 11 March, you’ll pay the new price.
Ring’s pricier ‘Plus’ subscription prices will remain at £8 a month or £80 a year. This service covers more than one device at a single location, plus additional extras, such as extended device warranties.
Want to stick with Ring? Check if you can cancel now and re-join before the price hikes take force
If you’re unhappy about the increases and want to stick with Ring, you can cancel your current subscription and get a pro-rata refund of any unused days left. You can then take out a new subscription on the same device before 11 March. As MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis explains:
Beat the Ring doorbell 43% March price hike. I know many are annoyed, so there’s a possible work around (still double-checking but thought I’d get it out).
– Cancel now get a pro-rata refund (you may lose saved files tho)
– Sign up again at the current price which then locks it…So if, for example, you bought an annual subscription and cancelled after six months, you’d get a refund for the six months you didn’t use. Or if you paid for a monthly subscription and cancelled after 15 days, you’d get a refund for the remaining number of days that month.
You could then take out a new annual subscription before 11 March and you’d be locked in at the current cheaper price for at least a year – though of course prices may rise again next March.
Anyone thinking of getting a Ring subscription for the first time should also try to lock in an annual subscription before 11 March if they can afford to do so.
We’ve got step-by-step info on how to cancel your Ring subscription below. You just need to make sure you download any videos you want to save before you cancel. Fail to do so and you will no longer be able to save, review and share any video recordings as they’ll permanently deleted when your subscription is cancelled.
Want to leave Ring? You can cancel penalty-free AND get a pro-rata refund
If your Ring service no longer offers value to you, you could consider cancelling completely. You can still watch live footage, get motion-activated notifications and talk to people through the doorbell/camera without a subscription.
You can’t, however, link your Ring device to any other doorbell or security camera subscription services.
To cancel your Ring subscription:
- Log in to your account on Ring.com.
- From the top menu, select ‘Protect Plan’.
- Find your subscription plan and click ‘Cancel Plan’, then ‘Continue’.
- Choose whether you want to cancel your plan straight away or at the end of the billing cycle. To get a pro-rata refund, you’ll need to cancel straight away.
- Click ‘Cancel Ring Protect’.
