Blue Iris vs UniFi Protect cost for a small business with 4 or 15 cameras

For a business, Blue Iris costs $579.35 in the first year and $479.40 a year after, because its own maintenance table allows commercial use only on the $39.95 a month Commercial plan. UniFi Protect costs no license or monthly fee at all, but it is sold with hardware: a four camera kit is $699 and fifteen cameras on a UNVR come to $2,793. Blue Iris is cheaper only when you already own the Windows PC and the cameras.

The two get compared because both are one-time-hardware systems with no per camera license, and both have good person detection. They are priced in very different ways, which is why a side by side number is rarely printed. The Blue Iris figures come from the developer's price list and the UniFi figures from Ubiquiti's US store, and the full breakdowns are in our Blue Iris price and UniFi Protect cost posts. Prices move, so check before you order.

What each one charges for

Read the second row twice. On Blue Iris's maintenance table, commercial use is checked only in the Commercial plan column. A shop, an office or a rental that records with Blue Iris on the $99.95 license and Basic maintenance is outside what the developer permits. Ubiquiti has no equivalent line for Protect.

Four cameras

A UniFi UNVR Instant kit with four cameras is $699, or about $858 once you swap the 1TB drive for a 4TB drive at $159. Everything needed to record is in the box and the recorder powers the cameras.

Blue Iris for four cameras costs $579.35 in year one on the Commercial plan before the PC. A small fanless Windows machine, a drive, and four cameras with a switch are on top of that. Over five years the Blue Iris software alone is $2,496.95. For a business starting from nothing, UniFi is the cheaper purchase by more than $1,500 even before the PC is counted.

Fifteen cameras

The honest reading: Blue Iris is the cheapest to run if the cameras and a spare PC already exist, because the only new spend is $579.35 and then $479.40 a year. UniFi wins if you are buying cameras anyway, because the license is free and the $2,793 includes the recorder. Neither beats the other for someone who must keep Hikvision, Axis or Hanwha cameras and wants person alerts, which is the next section.

If you already own the cameras

Blue Iris takes almost any ONVIF or RTSP camera and its built in detection works on the stream, so it is the natural pick when the cameras are a mix of brands. UniFi Protect adopts third party cameras over ONVIF but gives them no person or vehicle detection, so you add AI Ports at $199 per one 4K, two 2K or three HD cameras. Fifteen existing 2K cameras need eight, which is the $2,590 row above.

If the cameras and the recorder already work and only the alerts are noisy, the cheaper fix is neither of these. Classifying each motion event as person, vehicle, animal or nothing on the stream you already record costs $888 a year for fifteen cameras, with no hardware. Our Synology vs UniFi Protect cost page prices the same fork when the recorder is a NAS. Retail owners who settle on UniFi often also run their stock through inventory management software so the camera budget and the shrink numbers sit side by side.

Questions buyers ask

Is Blue Iris cheaper than UniFi Protect?

Only if you own the PC and cameras. Blue Iris for a business is $579.35 in year one, then $479.40 a year, with no hardware included. UniFi Protect has no software fee, and a UNVR, drive and fifteen cameras is $2,793 once.

Can I use Blue Iris for a business?

Yes, on the Commercial license plan at $39.95 a month. The developer's maintenance table checks commercial use only for that plan, not for the $99.95 license with Basic maintenance.

Does UniFi Protect have a monthly fee?

No. Ubiquiti charges no license, per camera fee or subscription for Protect or remote access. Optional items such as UI Care and an AI Key are one-time purchases.

Which has better person detection?

Both detect people well on their own terms. Blue Iris runs detection on your PC, so quality follows the hardware you build. UniFi runs it on the console, but only for UniFi cameras or third party cameras behind an AI Port.