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Renter buying guides

Video Doorbells

See who's at the door without touching your landlord's wiring — battery doorbells and no-drill mounts that come off clean on move-out day.

A video doorbell is the upgrade renters ask about first, and for good reason: it’s the one device that answers the two questions you have every day — who’s at the door, and did my package arrive. The problem is that the whole category is built around homeowners. Most doorbells assume you can run low-voltage wiring or drill four holes into a door frame you don’t own. That’s exactly what a renter can’t do, and it’s the gap this section exists to close.

Here’s what a renter should actually buy. Start with a battery doorbell, not a wired one — battery power means there’s no doorbell wiring to touch and nothing to restore when you leave. Mount it with a no-drill adhesive plate (an inexpensive accessory) so it goes up without a single hole and peels off clean. And if your door already has a peephole, consider a peephole camera, which reuses the hole that’s already there for the most reversible install of all.

The other decision that matters is storage. Some brands — Ring most notably — lock recorded video behind a monthly subscription. Live view is free, but if you want to scroll back through what the camera caught, you pay every month for the length of your lease. Others, like eufy and Blink, keep footage locally for a one-time cost. Neither approach is wrong, but over two or three years the difference adds up to real money, so we call it out on every pick.

Below you’ll find our ranked roundups: the best doorbells for apartments overall, the best without a subscription, a guide to the no-drill mounts that make them renter-safe, and an honest look at whether a Ring makes sense in a rental. Every pick carries a live price and our Lease-Safe rating, and we tell you which ones we’d skip.

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Video doorbell questions renters ask

Do I need my landlord's permission for a video doorbell?

For a battery doorbell on an adhesive mount, usually not — there's no wiring changed and no holes left behind, so it's reversible. A hard-wired doorbell is an alteration you should clear first. Either way, check your lease and don't point the camera into a neighbor's space.

Which video doorbell works without existing wiring?

Any battery model — the Wyze Video Doorbell Pro, eufy E340, Blink Video Doorbell and Ring Battery Doorbell all run on a rechargeable pack or AA cells, so no doorbell wiring is required. A peephole camera also needs no wiring.

What happens to my doorbell when I move out?

You peel it off, take it with you, and put your original peephole or a blank plate back. See our moving-out checklist for the full reset — resetting the app account and Wi-Fi matters as much as removing the hardware.

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