Alternatives

Best Solink alternatives in 2026: four platforms compared

A documented comparison for retail, restaurant and multi-site operators weighing a move off Solink. Every cell comes from the vendor's own current documentation, and where a vendor publishes nothing this page says so.

Updated August 7, 2026
9 min read
By Sud Bhatija, COO and Co-founder
The short answer

Solink is a strong platform for a storefront estate, and most teams who leave it are not leaving because it failed. They leave because the estate stopped being all storefront. These four are the platforms that come up in that conversation, each with the case where it is the right answer.

1
Spot AI
Best for a mixed estate that needs shipped agents for safety and operations as well as security
2
Verkada
Best when you are specifying cameras, access control and sensors from scratch and want one vendor
3
Coram AI
Best when the job is after-the-fact investigation across a large site count
4
Lumana
Best for retail teams that want point-of-sale context from a newer platform
The one question that decides this shortlist

Every platform here reads the cameras you already own. What separates them is how much of your estate arrives covered on day one.

If every site has a register in it
Shape
Transaction anchored
Solink and Lumana are built for exactly this
What matters
Point-of-sale depth
Named integrations beat a generic API
Verdict
Staying is reasonable
Breadth you never use is not an upgrade
If a meaningful share of it does not
Shape
Agent first
The site type stops being an assumption
What matters
Which detections ship
Compare lists by name, not totals
Verdict
The estate decides
Shipped coverage on both halves, or a build queue on one
Both rows are drawn from the vendors' own current documentation, checked on August 7, 2026.

Solink alternatives compared

Four platforms plus Solink's own reference row, on the criteria that decide this category. Checked August 7, 2026.

Platform
Pre-trained agents
Works with existing cameras
Named POS integrations
Pricing disclosure
Best for
Spot AI
15+ across security, safety and operations, plus Iris custom detections in about 8 minutes
Any ONVIF or RTSP IP camera, plus legacy analog through the Intelligent Video Recorder
Not the focus; wiring runs through open APIs, webhooks and an MCP endpoint
Not published; per-camera subscription covering software and the IVR
Mixed estates needing shipped agents beyond the storefront
Solink
3 named: Overnight Guard, Loss Prevention and Store Readiness, plus a customer-facing builder
Yes, with 48 camera manufacturers named publicly
Toast, Square and NCR, plus Olo for delivery, Brivo for access and Zoho for inventory
Not published; tailored quote only, with no tiers or terms
Multi-unit retail and restaurant with loss at the register
Verkada
Not stated as a count; on-camera AI on second-generation cameras and newer
Command Connector, an ONVIF Profile S conformant client that also ingests RTSP, inside documented stream conditions
Not publicly specified
Per-device MSRPs and license terms published on its pricing page
A build specified end to end with hardware budget
Coram AI
Not stated as a count; markets Deep Investigation, framed as after-the-fact investigation
Not publicly specified
Not publicly specified
Not publicly specified
Investigation across a large site count
Lumana
Not publicly specified
Not publicly specified
Point-of-sale integration is documented
Not publicly specified
Retail teams wanting a newer transaction-anchored platform

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Spot AI, Solink and Verkada rows were read off each vendor's own current documentation on August 7, 2026. Coram AI and Lumana rows carry only what is confirmed in dated reference material; every unconfirmed cell is marked not publicly specified rather than guessed.

Why teams look beyond Solink

Rarely because it stopped working. Solink is one of the more transparent platforms in this category: it names 48 camera manufacturers rather than saying camera agnostic and leaving you to test it, it publishes SOC 2 Type II and an NDAA statement, and it puts the appliance behind your firewall with no inbound ports. For a multi-unit operator whose loss sits at the register, that is a well-matched product.

The reason to look is almost always shape. Solink reasons from the transaction outward, and the three agents it ships, Overnight Guard, Loss Prevention and Store Readiness, all assume a site with a register in it. The moment a distribution centre, a plant or a yard joins the estate, one half of it is covered by shipped agents and the other half becomes custom work that you scope, build and tune with the Skills and Tolerance Meter controls Solink provides.

The second reason is price visibility, and it is not unique to Solink. Nothing about cost is published: no list price, no per-camera figure, no tiers, no contract terms. Only Verkada in this set publishes per-device MSRPs, which is worth stating plainly because Spot AI does not publish list pricing either.

Key takeaway

The question is not which platform has more features. It is how much of your estate arrives covered on day one, and how much becomes a project.

Platform by platform

What each one is, where it is strong, and where it is not. Every entry carries at least one honest minus, Spot AI's included.

1. Spot AI

Agent first

A software-led video AI platform that works with the cameras a business already owns. It ships 15+ pre-trained Video AI Agents spanning vehicle break-in, fire, cash register theft, after-hours intrusion, personal protective equipment, forklift near-miss, falls and crowding in hazard zones, so a mixed estate gets shipped coverage on both the store side and the industrial side. Iris builds anything else in natural conversation in about eight minutes. Full-resolution video stays on the Intelligent Video Recorder in the building and only event metadata crosses the network.

Strengths
  • 15+ pre-trained agents covering security, safety and operations
  • Custom detections through Iris in about eight minutes
  • Any ONVIF or RTSP camera, plus legacy analog through the IVR
  • SOC 2 Type II, NDAA-compliant and HIPAA-aligned
Considerations
  • No published list pricing, so a budget needs a quote
  • No named point-of-sale integration list; wiring runs through open APIs, webhooks and an MCP endpoint
Best for: Multi-site operations that mix storefronts with plants, warehouses or yards and need safety coverage as well as security.

2. Verkada

Single vendor

A cloud-managed physical security platform built around its own hardware, with cameras, access control, environmental sensors, alarms and intercoms administered together in Command. It reaches third-party cameras through Command Connector, which Verkada states is an ONVIF Profile S conformant client that also ingests RTSP feeds, inside documented stream conditions. Alone in this set, it publishes per-device MSRPs and license terms.

Strengths
  • One console across cameras, access control, sensors, alarms and intercoms
  • Publishes per-device MSRPs and license terms
  • On-camera AI with natural-language search in Command
Considerations
  • Bringing existing cameras in is a hardware purchase, with Command Connector listed from $4,499
  • Automated audio deterrence works with Verkada audio devices, named as the BZ11 horn speaker and Verkada Intercom models
Best for: A build you specify end to end, with hardware budget inside the project.

3. Coram AI

Investigation

A newer entrant that raised about $66 million in total after a $35 million Series B in June 2026, and reports 1,500-plus sites. It markets Deep Investigation, autonomous agents that go beyond similarity search, and the honest framing is after-the-fact investigation rather than live deterrence. Its base has been education, healthcare and manufacturing, and it now names retail and hospitality as well.

Strengths
  • Funded and growing, with a June 2026 Series B behind it
  • Investigation tooling that goes past simple similarity search
  • Names retail and hospitality alongside its education and healthcare base
Considerations
  • Positioned around after-the-fact investigation rather than deterrence during an event
  • Camera compatibility, agent count and pricing are not publicly specified
Best for: Teams whose main job is finding what happened across a large number of sites.

4. Lumana

Retail context

A newer video AI platform aimed at retail teams, with documented point-of-sale integration. It belongs on this list because it competes for the same transaction-anchored use case Solink owns, which makes it a like-for-like swap rather than a change of approach. Its public documentation is thinner than the others here, so most of the evaluation has to happen in the demo rather than off the website.

Strengths
  • Point-of-sale integration is documented, so the transaction context Solink buyers rely on is present
  • A direct like-for-like option for a retail estate
Considerations
  • Pre-trained agent count, camera compatibility and pricing are not publicly specified
  • Solves the same shape of problem as Solink, so it does not help a mixed estate
Best for: Retail teams that want a newer platform without changing the transaction-anchored approach.

How to choose a Solink alternative

Six questions that separate these platforms in an evaluation. Four of them are the ones people forget.

How much of your estate is not a storefront?

This is the whole decision. Count the sites that have no register: distribution centres, plants, yards, campuses. If the answer is none, Solink's shape fits and the case for moving is weak. If it is a third or more, ask each vendor which detections for those sites arrive pre-trained and which are custom work.

Which detections ship, and which do you build?

Ask for the pre-trained list by name, not a count. Then mark your own required detections against it. A platform with fifteen agents that miss your three is worse than one with five that hit them, and the only way to know is to compare lists rather than totals.

How long does a custom detection take, and who tunes it?

Spot AI publishes about eight minutes through Iris in natural conversation. Solink documents the flow, naming the agent, selecting Skills, setting a schedule and tuning a Tolerance Meter, but publishes no time. Ask to build one during the evaluation, on your footage, and time it. Then ask who owns the tuning after go-live, because that is the setting that decides how noisy month two feels.

Does the vendor publish which cameras it works with?

Almost everyone says camera agnostic. Solink names 48 manufacturers, which is unusual and genuinely useful. Verkada publishes stream conditions instead: ONVIF Profile S, same local area network with no dynamic NAT or L3 translation, 2MP to 4K, 5 to 20 FPS and no B-frames. Either form of disclosure beats a claim, so ask for whichever the vendor has.

What actually happens when something is detected?

Three different products hide behind the word deterrence. Some platforms only raise an alert. Some verify first and then trigger a deterrent themselves, which is how both Solink and Spot AI describe their agents. Some route every event to a person before anything happens at the site. Ask which one you are buying, ask what the deterrent physically runs on at each location, and price the staffing for whatever the platform still escalates.

What does each vendor publish about price?

Verkada publishes per-device MSRPs and license terms. Solink, Spot AI, Coram AI and Lumana publish nothing, so the comparison comes from quotes on the same site list. Ask every vendor to break the quote out by camera count, retention tier and which agents are included at that price, because the last of those is where the difference usually hides.

Where Spot AI fits

Spot AI is the answer to one specific version of this question: the estate is mixed, the storefront half is already handled, and the plants, warehouses or yards need the same quality of coverage without becoming a build project. Fifteen or more pre-trained agents span both sides, Iris covers the gaps in about eight minutes, and the cameras stay where they are.

It is not the answer to every version. If the estate is one store format and the loss is at the register, Solink's named point-of-sale integrations are deeper than anything Spot AI publishes, and depth in the thing you actually do beats breadth you will never use.

Key takeaway

A camera-agnostic platform lets you test the claim rather than take it. Both Spot AI and Solink pilot on the cameras you already own, so the honest comparison costs a week rather than a purchase order.

See it on your own cameras

Watch the AI coworkers work on your live feeds before a platform decision.

Request a demo

Proof points from Spot AI customers

Customer-reported outcomes from named Spot AI customers.

24/7

Blackmon Oil runs a vehicle loitering filter to keep parking lots clean and safe at its around-the-clock stores, with a smaller overnight crew.

Blackmon Oil Co., convenience and fuel
25+

Bridge33 Capital standardized video across 25 plus properties, each acquisition arriving with a different camera system, and cut footage search from hours to minutes.

Bridge33 Capital, commercial real estate
1M sq ft

Unique Industries covers more than a million square feet with a three-person safety team, catching near misses and falls on the cameras already installed.

Unique Industries, manufacturing and distribution

"We've set up a Spot AI vehicle loitering filter to keep our parking lots clean and safe, especially for our 24/7 stores. Even with a smaller overnight crew, we want eyes on the lot at night."

Kelsey Blackmon
Marketing and Technology VP, Blackmon Oil Co.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Solink alternatives in 2026?

The four covered here are Spot AI, Verkada, Coram AI and Lumana. Spot AI suits a mixed estate needing shipped agents for safety and operations as well as security. Verkada suits a build specified end to end. Coram AI suits after-the-fact investigation at scale. Lumana is the closest like-for-like swap for a retail estate that wants to keep the transaction-anchored approach.

Why do teams leave Solink?

Usually because the estate changed rather than because the platform failed. Solink's three shipped agents, Overnight Guard, Loss Prevention and Store Readiness, all assume a storefront. Once a plant, warehouse or yard joins the estate, that half needs custom agents you build and tune yourself, and teams start asking what arrives pre-trained instead.

Is Solink camera agnostic?

Yes, and it is more explicit about it than most. Solink states there is no rip-and-replace and its integrations page names 48 camera manufacturers, including Axis, Hanwha, Avigilon, Pelco, Bosch, Panasonic and Sony. Recording can run locally through Solink hardware or supported NVRs, in the cloud, or as a hybrid.

Which of these platforms publishes pricing?

Only Verkada, which lists per-device MSRPs and license terms on its pricing page. Solink, Spot AI, Coram AI and Lumana publish nothing, so any cost comparison across them has to come from quotes on the same site list, broken out by camera count, retention tier and which agents are included.

Does Solink do active deterrence?

Yes, and on its own. Solink's February 2026 launch post for AI Agents describes agents that read intent, confirm the event is real, and then trigger deterrents such as audio broadcasts, while its homepage calls AI Agents autonomous AI that takes action in real time. The claim that Solink stops at detection and exception reporting is out of date and no page here repeats it.