A documented comparison for security and facilities leaders weighing a monitored AI guarding service against a video AI platform: who is in the loop, what runs on the cameras already installed, and what the ongoing cost actually covers.
Sentry AI, which trades as Smart Sentry AI out of Sunnyvale, sells autonomous guarding rather than software you run. AI detects intrusion, vehicles and loitering on cameras a property already has, a security expert reviews the incident live, and the response escalates through push to talk, a roaming guard or the police. It states a five second detection latency and deployment across 500 plus enterprise sites. Teams look for an alternative when they want the intervention to happen without a person in the loop, or when the mandate reaches past the perimeter into operations and safety.
Both platforms detect on cameras the property already owns, and both can end with an intruder being warned off. They differ on whether a person has to be available for that to happen.
Every cell is something the vendor publishes, or an explicit not publicly specified.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Sentry AI's row was read off smartsentryai.com on August 14, 2026, including its FAQ. The deterrence cell describes a human in the loop because that is how the vendor describes it: the AI detects, a security expert reviews in real time, and the person decides what escalates.
The first reason is the shape of the product, not its quality. Sentry AI is a service and says so: solution architects curate the hardware, supervise the install, tune each camera, and then people monitor the result. That suits a property that does not want to operate anything, and it prices as an ongoing cost per site for as long as the contract runs. A platform you run yourself prices differently, and across a multi-site estate over three to five years the two curves diverge sharply. Neither is wrong. They are different purchases that rarely belong in the same budget line.
The second reason is who acts. Sentry AI's own description of the loop is that AI detects and identifies, a security expert reviews the incident in real time, and that person uses judgment, push to talk, a roaming guard or a call to the police. The human is the feature. The human is also the dependency, which is why to ask about the shift when nobody is available, about response time under simultaneous alerts, and about what an escalation costs when it turns out to be a delivery driver. Autonomous deterrence answers those differently: the talk down fires the moment the detection lands, every time.
The third reason is reach. Sentry AI covers security and does not claim otherwise. The cameras it monitors watch the same yards and doors all day, and those feeds also hold answers about dock dwell, blocked exits and PPE. A perimeter service leaves that untouched, so when operations or safety later want the same cameras it usually means a second contract rather than another agent on a platform you already own.
Sentry AI puts a person in the loop on purpose. Decide whether that person is the feature you are buying or the constraint you will hit at scale.
What each one is, where it is strong, and what to check before you commit.
Spot AI is a software-led video AI platform that turns the IP cameras a business already owns into AI coworkers. An on-site Intelligent Video Recorder keeps full-resolution video in the building and sends only event metadata to the cloud, so search and multi-site management stay cloud-based while footage does not leave the facility.
Cobalt AI sells Cobalt Monitoring Intelligence, an automation layer that connects to the cameras, access control systems and edge devices a site already runs, then reasons across them to surface root cause and drive response workflows. It supports edge, cloud or hybrid deployment and is built on over ten years of in-house security operations experience.
Pro-Vigil sells remote video monitoring built around what it calls intelligent surveillance cameras, live monitoring agents and proactive deterrence, with fixed and mobile units including solar and Wi-Fi options. Events are filtered by AI and verified by agents who trigger lights and audible warnings.
Coram AI is a camera-agnostic platform built around AI search and investigation across cameras a business already owns, with named detections for firearms, falls and PPE violations, and alerts that can be built in plain English. An on-site appliance called Coram Point is purchased upfront.
Eagle Eye Networks is a cloud video management system that connects to virtually any ONVIF-conformant camera and digitises analog feeds through analog-ready Bridges and CMVRs, then layers cloud analytics on top of the estate. Its documentation names ONVIF Profile S and dual codec streaming as the integration path.
Six questions that separate these platforms faster than any feature list.
This decides almost everything else. Sentry AI and Pro-Vigil are services with people in the loop, priced per site as an operating cost. Spot AI, Coram AI and Eagle Eye Networks are platforms your team runs. Cobalt AI sits between the two, selling autonomous agents specifically framed as replacing guard hours. Answer this first, because comparing a service subscription against a platform licence without saying so produces numbers that look comparable and are not.
Sentry AI states five second detection, then a person reviews and decides. Pro-Vigil verifies every event with an agent and publishes a 24 second average response. Spot AI runs talk down, strobes and horns through standard speakers automatically, so the intervention does not queue behind a reviewer. Ask each vendor what happens when three sites alert at once at 03:00, because that is where the models genuinely separate.
Sentry AI states it works with any camera or NVR that connects to the internet, wired or wireless, and will recommend low-cost cameras where coverage is thin. Spot AI works with any ONVIF or RTSP IP camera, plus legacy analog through the Intelligent Video Recorder. Eagle Eye Networks reaches virtually any ONVIF-conformant camera with analog handled by Bridges. Coram AI and Cobalt AI both run on installed cameras. Camera reuse is the norm across this shortlist, so it should not cost you a premium.
Sentry AI is unusually specific here, and it is worth using: it publishes a rule of thumb of one camera per 100 by 50 feet, an average property at 8 to 12 cameras, small lots at 6 and large ones at 16 or more. Take that arithmetic to every vendor on your list and make them quote the same camera count against the same site plan. Coverage assumptions are where two quotes for the same property quietly stop being comparable.
Sentry AI, Pro-Vigil and Cobalt AI are security propositions. Eagle Eye Networks and Coram AI reach general video analytics. Spot AI runs safety and operations agents on the same cameras and the same dashboard, covering PPE, near miss and fall detection alongside SOP adherence and shift recaps. If operations or EHS already have a camera question of their own, price the combined answer now rather than integrating two vendors later.
Sentry AI publishes no pricing, and neither do Pro-Vigil, Cobalt AI, Coram AI or Spot AI. Eagle Eye Networks does not post list pricing either. That makes quotes the only real comparison. Quote every vendor against the identical site list and camera count, broken out into software or service fee, hardware, installation and storage, and state the contract length, because a monitored service and a platform licence do not amortise the same way.
Keep Sentry AI on the list when the requirement is perimeter security at properties that will not operate anything themselves, and when human judgment on the escalation is the point rather than an overhead. Its published customer stories sit squarely there: a Miami dealership owner describing loud talk down warning off catalytic converter theft, a temple protected from vandalism with live talk down, and a role in the arrest of twelve suspects in a Santa Clara package theft ring. Those are guarding outcomes and Sentry AI is selling guarding. The one hour install on cameras already online makes it easy to trial without disturbing what is there.
Look past it when the intervention needs to be autonomous, when the estate is large enough that per-site monitoring fees compound faster than a platform licence, or when the same cameras are wanted for safety and operations. Spot AI answers all three: agents that act through speakers already mounted without an operator deciding, one platform across sites rather than a contract per property, and safety and operations agents on the same feeds. If human verification on every event is non-negotiable, Pro-Vigil is the closer comparison, and Cobalt AI is worth a look if the goal is specifically converting guard hours into autonomous coverage.
A monitored service and a video AI platform are not the same purchase. Compare them over three years and per site, or the cheaper-looking option is simply the one billed monthly.
Watch the AI coworkers work on your live feeds, not a demo reel.
Customer-reported outcomes from named Spot AI customers.
Don Franklin Family of Dealerships shared footage with responding law enforcement within four minutes of an alarm, with the clip pulled and sent before officers arrived.
Staccato went from first conversation to full deployment across an 800-acre campus in seven weeks.
Don Franklin Family of Dealerships lifted camera utilization 60% as the system became an analytical tool across departments rather than a security archive.
"We chose Spot AI knowing our surveillance system could become an extension of our safety team. We now have someone on that team whose job is to study the video and flag cases for review."
Sentry AI, trading as Smart Sentry AI from Sunnyvale, California, sells AI guarding as a managed service. Its AI detects intrusion, vehicles and loitering on cameras a property already has, a security expert reviews the incident live, and the response escalates through push to talk, a roaming guard or law enforcement. It states five second detection latency and deployment across 500 plus enterprise sites.
Yes. It states that its system works with all cameras and NVRs that can connect to the internet, wired or wireless, and that it integrates with existing SOC infrastructure and leading monitoring software. Where coverage is thin it offers to recommend low-cost cameras rather than requiring a fleet replacement. It also states installation takes roughly an hour when cameras are already online.
Sentry AI publishes no pricing, which is the norm across this shortlist. Because it is a monitored service rather than a platform licence, the comparison that matters is total cost per site over the contract term, not a headline rate. Quote it against the same site list and camera count as every platform on your list, and hold the coverage assumptions constant.
Who acts, and how far the platform reaches. Sentry AI detects and then a monitoring expert decides what happens, which is deliberate: the human is the product. Spot AI runs 15+ pre-trained agents that act on their own through talk down, strobes and horns on standard speakers, and the same cameras also run safety and operations agents covering PPE, near miss detection, SOP adherence and shift recaps.
Its own position is that its AI guard can replace most guard functions at a significant cost saving, while also offering to train an existing security team to operate the cameras, live video, alerts and police dispatch. Whether that holds at your site depends on what your guards actually do beyond watching, which is worth writing down before any vendor on this list quotes against it.