In today’s world, there are countless reasons to get a dash cam for your car. A dash cam can provide evidence in the event of an accident, such as recklessness and no fault liability to you as a driver. By providing clear footage to police and insurance companies, a dash cam can potentially save you thousands of dollars and countless hours of legal troubles.
How much does a dash cam cost?
The cost of a dash cam can vary greatly depending on the type of camera, its features, and the intended use. A standard dash cam for personal use in cars typically ranges from $70 to $180, although some budget options may be available for as little as $30.
For professional-grade, high-quality dash cams designed for commercial use, such as in trucking or fleet vehicles, prices can range from $100 to $500 or more, depending on the advanced features and capabilities offered.
Several factors contribute to the price differences among dash cams, including:
- Camera quality: Higher-resolution cameras with better low-light performance and image clarity generally come at a higher cost.
- Lens width: Wider-angle lenses, such as those used in professional trucking dash cams, can capture a broader view but may be more expensive than standard lenses.
- Advanced features: Dash cams with additional features like GPS tracking, Wi-Fi connectivity, or advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) will often command a higher price.
For example, while a standard car dash cam may have a lens that covers 100-120 degrees, professional trucking dash cams often require a wider fish-eye lens that can capture angles up to 180 degrees, contributing to their higher cost.
Continue reading for our full price guide. A good approach to buying a dash cam is to think about it the same way you would a phone or TV. It’s technology & avoiding the cheap options often save you money in the long term. A dash cam needs to survive all types of weather conditions. Also, it’s not useful if the video quality is so bad that you can’t see the license plate of a person who hit & ran!
Dash Cam Price Factors
When it comes to figuring out which dash cam is right for you, it’s important to weigh all of the factors that impact the price of a dash cam.
Understand why some features & specs effect a dash cams price and some don’t. This will help you figure out which in order to dash cam is best for your situation.
Video Quality and Output
Video footage can come in different pixel aspect ratios, but the most common are 4k, 2k, 720p & 1080p. Each is a different resolution and therefore has a different effect of video quality.
Realistically though, these are are more than enough to give a clear picture of the road in front of you. With 720p being the lowest quality of the 4 listed, the only thing that might be blurry is a street sign or license plate far away. With that being said, a 1080p dash cam would be enough to capture a license plate without the high costs of a 4k or 2k dash cam.
180° vs 360° vs Rear Dash Cams
A 180° dash cam, or ‘front-facing’ are the most common single lens dash cams which are designed to only see what’s in front (or rear) of the vehicle. This type of dash cam ranges between $80 and $250.
A 360° dash camera, or ‘dual-facing’ has multiple lenses. The purpose the multiple lenses is to see the road and the inside of the vehicle simultaneously.
Dual-facing dash cams typically cost more than front-facing ones, but are typically only used commercially. They’re popular among companies than own fleets of vehicles, because in these situations the drivers don’t own the vehicles they’re driving.
Therefore other vehicles on the road aren’t the only liability, the drivers themselves are as well. A dash cam that faces both ways costs anywhere in the range of $110 and $350.
Finally, a rear facing dash cam is a dash cam that is meant to be installed to record the action behind your vehicle. You could simply get 2 of the same dash cam and install one in front and one in the back.
However, there are a few specialty “front and rear” dash cams that sync up when filming, so it’s easy to see what happened in front and rear of a vehicle at the same time. These typically cost between $160 and $400.
Making the decision between 180°, 360° and a ‘front and rear’ dash cam is very situational. However, if you’re looking to get a simple dash cam without the need for anything fancy, a basic 180° cam will be the best bang for your buck.
Installation
Mounting a dash cam to your windshield isn’t rocket science, but can be confusing at times. Most dash cams can be installed by hand and the mount is included with the purchase of your dash cam. However, even the most tech-savvy people have questions during the installation process. We address these questions and more in our in-depth post on how to install a dash cam.
Functionality
In 2024, most dash cams have Wide Dynamic Range recording capability. This feature auto-adjusts bright lighting and improves dark lighting, which is essential for dash cams since you’ll be driving under bridges and shadows. There’s plenty of other features that improve your dash cam experience such as:
- App Access – this is the most convenient feature. This feature lets you view your dash cam footage on your phone from an app created by the manufacturer
- Night vision – record clear videos at night with night vision
- Accelerometer – provides the speed of the vehicle & rate of acceleration
- Motion sensors – if the dash cam motion senses any activity nearby, it will begin recording
- Collision detection – automatically starts recording video footage when the dash camera detects a collision, which is useful when your car is parked
- In-cab coaching – this feature has built-in speakers to alert drivers of relevant information
- Artificial intelligence – cameras with AI installed can help identify a range of situations, from unworn seatbelts to specific driving conditions & violations, so you can track and encourage safe driving. This is especially useful if you have several employees driving company vehicles, or even a new teen driver you want to keep an eye on.
- Built in GPS Tracking
- Bluetooth connectivity
Of course, a dash cam with a lot of these features is going to be more expensive than a basic one. With dash cams being such a new creation for personal use, there isn’t a dash cam that offers all of the features mentioned above (yet).
Built In GPS Tracking
Data logging with GPS is by far the topic we get inquires about the most. Dash cams with GPS data logging embed GPS data into whatever is being filmed and reflects it in the footage.
The purpose is mostly to help the owner match locations to timestamps & verify location during an accident. Dash cams that include features like GPS & Collision Detection can even provide locations to loved ones or others in the event of an accident.
Standard vs Professional Dash Cam Price
Standard dash cams are the run-of-the-mill dash cams, that function best in cars. Most standard dash cams have fewer feature options. Dash cams specially designed for business use, such as trucker & delivery van dash cams have more.
As previously mentioned, the cheaper standard dash cams go for around $70, while the cheapest professional dash cams are around $100. If you’re looking for mid-tier quality dash cams, standard & professional dash cams are similar in prices.
For example, a good quality standard dash cam will cost between $120 and $150, while a good business dash cam will be ~$150. If you’re looking for a higher end multi-lens dash cam with unlimited recording time & uploads directly to the cloud, be prepared to spend around $250 to $500.
Dash Cam Price Breakdown
Commercial dash cams go for anywhere from $100 to $500. A standard dash cam goes for anywhere from $100 up to as much as $250 depending on the features & camera quality. A dash cam towards the top of the $250 range would typically include a wide-angle lens, a dual-facing cam that records at a video quality above 1080p. When considering prices, remember some insurance companies offer a discount for auto-insurance for drivers who use a dash cam.
Using this info, a fleet manager looking for dash cams for 5 vehicles should expect to spend between $500 to $1000, and may cost up to $1500 to get the more advanced features.
Best Priced Dash Cams
When searching for the best-priced dash cam, it’s important to consider your own requirements in terms of video quality & advanced features.
Also consider what angles you’d like to record. Only need to record the road in front of you? Get a front-facing dash cam.
Or maybe you’re an uber driver who wants to record the road as well as inside your vehicle…
Get a dual-facing dash cam. Want to avoid any possibility of being blamed for an accident? Get both a front and rear facing dash cam!
Once you fully know what you want, you can check out our ‘best’ lists regarding our opinions on the best priced dash cams in each of these categories.
Cheap Dash Cam Deals
Want an inexpensive dash cam that’s still reliable with good video quality? This is the section for you. Understand you don’t have the luxury of choice because there aren’t too many that fit this description.
And with tech products like phones, earbuds and dash cams, you often get what you pay for. Cheaper options are usually going to be made with cheap materials that break down easily. When you fully comprehend this, you realized you might pay more in the long run if you need to buy a replacement.
Benefits of a Budget Dash Cam
A budget dash cam is an inexpensive option that provides a video recording in the event that an accident occurs. $100 to $150 will be enough to get a dash cam with the important qualities we’ve mentioned. Features like higher-end video, a wide angle view and even a dual facing camera.
However, when looking at budget models it’s important to stick with reliable & well known manufacturers like Viofo, Nextbase, Wolfbox, and Redtiger dash cams. The Redtiger dash cam app has an which allows users to access their camera footage directly from their smart phone as pictured below.
Dashcams under $100
They offer features from wide angles with HD, to built-in wi fi & loop recording on a continuous loop. They actually have impressive shock detection for accidents that records and saves video footage when the sensor detects an incident.
If you’re looking for long-term sustainable and durable options made with high end materials, you may have to raise you budget beyond $100. Read our article on the best budget dash cams under 100 for our full guide on this.
Dash Cameras under $50
We frequently get asked our opinion on many dash cams listed under $50 on Amazon. Realistically, the term quality shouldn’t be used for these.
Simply speaking, the materials needed to made a decent dash cam should cost the manufacturer $50 or more. Any company doing this, either isn’t using materials that will last varying weather conditions (hot or cold) or they won’t be in business long.
Every dash cam we’ve tested that were under $50 were cheap knock offs and stopped working within weeks. Instead of wasting money on a knock off dash cam, a better idea is to use a dash cam app on your phone.
Yes, there are dash cam apps that record video & attempt to serve the same purpose using your phones camera. An app is definitely not a long-term solution though, as you’ll quickly run out of phone storage. You may even end up paying the difference in iCloud / Android Cloud storage.
Standard Dash Camera Prices
Your budget, features required and whether you’ll use the dash cam for standard use or for commercial use are the main variables when it comes to picking the dash camera that best for you.
If you’re looking for a personal dash camera, you’ll want to look into the TOGUARD Daul Dash Cam FHD or the Redtiger F3 2.5k. These are going to be the best bang for your buck on a budget as they’re both under $100 with higher end video quality & decent field of view.
With all this being said, the only way to truly get the camera that fits your budget & needs to a T is research reviews on our site for the various dash cam models according to their price point. If you already know your budget and the exact features you need, your next step is to take a moment to fill out our free form, which was created to pair you with the dash cam that fits your needs.
180 Degree Front facing cameras: $80 – $250
Front dash cam use is one of their primary purposes: capturing what you see on the road. The cameras are intended for tracking accident or close-by collisions as well as assisting in the settlement and payment of claims from insurance companies. Several dashcams have AI technology for identifying distracted motorists. It is usually about $75-2500.
Dual-faced cameras: $100 – $500
Front and rear windshield cameras capture data from front and rear windows. So the incident will be captured at the rear, as is usually the case with collisions in vehicles. A 360 degree view is very helpful in determining liability in an accident.
Exterior Cameras: $100 – $300
Ideal dash camera for truckers, this camera will alert the driver whenever another vehicle gets closer in blind places. This camera is capable of also recording T-bone accidents that might affect a car’s front.
Interior Cameras: $100 – $300
Interior dashcams differ slightly from those in other vehicles. Basically this dash camera is intended for recording inside a car, allowing thieves to identify thieves in an emergency situation, and is used by taxi services to assure the safety of passengers and drivers. Dashcams generally range between 80-200 USD.
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