Written from publicly available information. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.

WHERE CLOSED PSaaS COSTS YOU

One vendor controls the hardware, the licence and the exit.

The cameras you bought depend on the licence

Many closed platforms need a live licence to keep their cameras working, and some vendors can revoke local video streams if the renewal is not paid. With TetherX, if your subscription ends you can still watch local live video and recent recordings through a simplified offline interface.

What IPVM and users found
IPVM named the model Hostage As a Service in 2021 and applied it to Meraki, Rhombus and Verkada alike. In April 2026 its testing found Verkada cameras locked out when a licence lapses, and Verkada told IPVM that its platform "continues to require a license to operate". After Verkada's 30-day grace period, Command access to footage and settings ends (Verkada licensing). Meraki users report devices on expired licences actively blocking traffic (r/meraki, March 2025).

Keep the alarm panel you already have

Some closed platforms are built to replace your alarm panel with their own. TetherX connects the panel you already have: any panel reporting SIA DC-09 or Contact ID over IP, including Honeywell Galaxy, Texecom, DSC and Risco, shows its alarms on the same timeline as your cameras.

One example
Verkada, for example, says organisations can replace any traditional panel with its own BP52. In January 2026 an installer described removing a DSC Neo alarm that was working perfectly to fit Verkada's own (r/accesscontrol).

Your cameras' own analytics go unused

Other camera brands often need the vendor's own connector box, and some vendors ignore those cameras' built-in analytics or keep plate recognition for their own cameras. Included TetherBox AI runs on the edge, and supported camera and third-party analytics feed the same timeline.

Two examples
Verkada's Command Connector FAQ says Connector does not use events emitted by non-Verkada cameras, and its plate alerts need Verkada LPR cameras. Rhombus bridges other cameras through its Relay, with a Rhombus licence for each bridged camera.

The installer brings the customer. Who keeps them?

Installers in 2025 and 2026 Reddit discussions report some closed vendors contacting their customers directly. TetherX is sold only through authorised installers and distributors, with no direct-sales team competing for the account, so your installer stays the commercial and support partner. See the partner programme.

The installer discussions
The accounts concern Verkada, in March 2025, April 2025 and January 2026 threads on r/accesscontrol. A Verkada employee replied to the January thread in July 2026 with a counterpoint. They are individual experiences, not an official policy.

Monitoring arrives inside the bundle

Closed platforms often sell their own monitoring alongside their licences. A customer with a monitoring contract then faces new control-room contacts, new alarm-receiving service levels and a new insurer site visit. With TetherX, run your own control room, use a TetherX control room, or keep your provider: Patriot-based centres such as IMS connect directly.

Two examples
Verkada includes professional monitoring with its Alarms site licences (Verkada pricing), and YourSix bundles professional monitoring into its PSaaS subscription.

Open promises are narrowing

Wisenet SKY and MOBOTIX CLOUD were white-labelled Eagle Eye, and both are closing since the Brivo merger: Hanwha ended SKY on 3 August 2026 (notice), and MOBOTIX CLOUD ends as reseller contracts expire (FAQ). Brivo now sells its own cameras. Eagle Eye still accepts other brands, but its any-camera promise is under pressure.

AT A GLANCE

Closed PSaaS and TetherX, question by question

The 7 questions an integrator asks on a site walk, answered for both platforms.

Question Closed PSaaS TetherX
Which devices you can connect One vendor's catalogue. Many closed platforms sell their own cameras, door controllers and connector boxes, and other camera brands often join only through that connector, with a licence per camera. YourSix is built around Axis cameras, with narrower support for other brands. 1,000+ integrations across 17,000+ device models, plus ONVIF and RTSP sources. Check model-specific recording, analytics and control support.
Who monitors your alarms Monitoring is often sold by the platform vendor itself, alongside its own licences. A control room is built in: operators act on each event in full context, while site users get critical alerts that sound through silent mode and pass on instructions. Choose professional monitoring through a TetherX control room, run your own, or keep an existing provider; Patriot-based centres such as IMS connect directly.
What you can still do when the internet drops Viewing and export often need the vendor's cloud. After a combined power and internet cut, some cameras wait for the internet before recording again. Recording, doors, alarms and automations keep running on the TetherBox, and recordings catch up with the cloud when the link returns, even after weeks offline. On the site network, the offline interface shows live view and the recordings stored on the box, and footage already in TetherX Cloud stays available remotely.
Where the AI runs Other camera brands often need the vendor's own connector box. Some vendors ignore those cameras' built-in analytics, or keep plate recognition for their own cameras. Included TetherBox AI runs on the edge, and supported camera and third-party analytics feed the same timeline. Native video, appearance/PPE and counting run on compatible NVIDIA GPU/Jetson or Hailo compute, including Raspberry Pi AI HAT; audio runs locally on the CPU. Each module needs supported models, configuration and a capacity check. Additional modules and retention can cost extra. Optional paid Calipsa cloud verification is also available, and natural language footage search interprets requests in the cloud.
Who you buy it from Usually through resellers, but installers have reported some closed vendors contacting their customers directly. Through the professional channel: an installer, security distributor or control room.
What you actually pay for The vendor's hardware, then a licence for every camera, door and alarm site to keep it working. Prices can rise sharply: in June 2026 one leading vendor raised connector list prices by 15.6% to 50%, and cameras by 20% to 28.6%. An annual platform subscription by channel count, from £100/site/year. TetherBox AI is included; additional modules and retention can cost extra. Cloud recording is optional; specialist analytics and professional monitoring are quoted separately.
What you keep if you stop paying On many closed platforms, cameras stop working or footage is locked soon after the licence lapses, and some vendors can revoke local video streams. The TetherBox keeps a local interface for live view and recent footage with no internet and no subscription, so the site is never dark.

The Closed PSaaS column is built from 33 public sources, listed at the foot of this page.

CLOSED PSaaS vs TETHERX

Same category. Two operating models.

Both unify video, access, alarms and monitoring in one cloud platform, which is what makes them PSaaS. Closed PSaaS supplies every layer from one vendor and its licence; open PSaaS lets you choose each layer and keep your installer and your monitoring provider. Where each one wins, and what each costs you.

Closed PSaaS

Strengths

Buy cameras, access control, alarms and sensors from one supplier, with hardware and software designed together

Some vendors offer a FedRAMP-authorised cloud for US government buyers

Trade-offs

Features such as AI talkdown can work only with the vendor's own speakers and intercoms

Browser views can be capped at 12 live cameras, and some vendors license a video-wall device separately

Some vendors host your video only in US or EU data centres

TetherX (open PSaaS)

Strengths

1,000+ integrations plus ONVIF and RTSP devices, so the cameras, access systems and alarm panels already on site stay in service

Review long periods of recording quickly with interactive timelapse

The permanent audit log shows who viewed footage, exported it or changed the system

Trade-offs

TetherX does not make cameras, so you choose and buy them separately.

Point-of-sale integration is planned for 2027.

MORE THAN A VMS

Run your control room. Or connect the ARC you already use.

TetherX supplies operator queues, verification, escalation, recorded outcomes and performance reporting within its cloud platform. Work the alarms in TetherX, or forward them into a supported monitoring platform.

First-party TetherX integration connects to Intelligent Monitoring Solutions (IMS) through Patriot, with alarm images and confirmed alarm delivery. IMS lists 800+ bureaus and two A1/R1A centres. Explore TetherX control-room workflows · IMS provider information

Other security platforms also provide operator alarm handling and monitoring integrations. Compare the supplied workflow, equipment support, licence and monitoring contract for your proposal.

AI and recording terms: TetherBox AI is included in the platform subscription. Additional modules and data retention may cost extra. Cloud recording is optional; specialist services and professional monitoring are separately scoped. See current AI coverage.

Pricing figures, ownership, acquisition dates and product behaviour cited on this page are point-in-time and drawn from public sources - see the disclaimer at the bottom of this page for sourcing, "as of" date, and how to flag corrections.

WHICH ONE FITS

Pick the one your site points at

Find the column that describes the job in front of you.

Choose closed PSaaS if

  • You want cameras, doors, alarms and monitoring from one vendor, and accept its hardware, its prices and its licence for as long as the system runs
  • Every site is new, with no cameras, alarm panels or monitoring contract worth keeping
  • One supplier answering for hardware and software matters more than choosing each layer
  • A US federal specification requires FedRAMP authorisation

Choose TetherX if

  • You want to keep your cameras, alarm panels and access systems
  • Your installer should remain your commercial and support partner
  • You want to keep watching on site when the internet drops or the subscription ends
  • You have a monitoring contract worth keeping, or want to run your own control room
RUN THIS TEST ON EVERY SHORTLIST

Give every vendor the same tasks

Use representative cameras and a realistic incident, and ask the people who will run the system to do the work themselves.

  1. Find the footage of a realistic incident by place and time.
  2. Follow the person or vehicle across several cameras.
  3. Bookmark the moment and share a clip, then check the recipient can open it.
  4. Add a user who should see only their own sites.
  5. Check system health across every site from one screen.
  6. Pull the network cable. Note what keeps recording, what you can still watch on site, and what catches up when the link returns.
  7. Test one integration you rely on, such as an alarm panel, door or sensor. A video feed of another system on screen is not the same as the data behind it: check its events arrive on the timeline, where you can search them and act on them.

See these tasks in a TetherX walkthrough, then run them at one of your sites with a 30-day trial through an installer partner.

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FAQ

Questions on open and closed PSaaS, VSaaS and PSIM

Both are PSaaS, or Physical Security as a Service: video, access control, intruder alarms and monitoring in one cloud platform. The difference is who chooses each layer.

Closed PSaaS supplies every layer from one vendor's catalogue, and the hardware depends on that vendor's licence. Many closed platforms sell their own cameras, door controllers and connector boxes, other camera brands often join only through that connector, and some replace the alarm panel too. IPVM's Hostage As a Service report (April 2021) groups Meraki, Rhombus and Verkada because their devices work only while licensed. YourSix bundles Axis-led cameras, access and monitoring on one platform.

Open PSaaS unifies the same layers on equipment from many manufacturers. TetherX is open PSaaS: 1,000+ integrations plus ONVIF and RTSP devices, the alarm panels and access systems already on site, and the monitoring route the customer chooses.

Eagle Eye / Brivo sits between the two. It still accepts other cameras, so we do not count it as closed, but its white-labelled clouds are closing and Brivo now sells its own cameras. Vendor detail: Verkada comparison, Eagle Eye / Brivo comparison, YourSix comparison and Avigilon Alta comparison.

Both, and the cleanest label is open PSaaS. TetherX brings local and optional cloud video recording, access control, intruder alarms, control-room workflows, TetherBox AI and multi-site automation into one cloud platform, which meets the PSaaS definition.

What makes it open: the customer is not locked to one camera or access-control brand, keeps the alarm panel already installed, and chooses how alarms are monitored. TetherX is sold only through authorised installers and distributors, so the installer keeps the customer relationship.

If a procurement template asks for the VSaaS label, TetherX is also a valid cloud VMS. The platform is the same either way.

Often, while their licences last. Some closed platforms let supported cameras stream over local RTSP. On Verkada, for example, enable local RTSP on supported models in Command and they stream to the TetherBox. IPVM reports Verkada can revoke RTSP access if the renewal is not paid, so connect cameras before the licences lapse.

Before you decide, send us your camera list, through your installer or distributor if you have one, and we'll tell you which models are supported, which features each keeps, and whether anything needs replacing.

Yes, if your cameras can stream to both systems at once. Start with one site, then move the rest in stages.

SaaS: Software as a Service, the parent category.

VSaaS: Video Surveillance as a Service. Cloud-managed CCTV: cameras, recording, search, alarms and multi-site dashboards as a subscription. Verkada, Rhombus, Eagle Eye / Brivo, Videoloft and TetherX all sell it.

ACaaS: Access Control as a Service. Cloud-managed doors, readers and credentials, from vendors such as Brivo, Avigilon Alta, Verkada Access, Kisi and Genea.

PSaaS: Physical Security as a Service. One cloud platform for video, access, intrusion, monitoring and automation. It comes in closed and open forms, compared on this page.

PSIM: Physical Security Information Management. On-premises command-and-control software that sits above existing VMS, access, intrusion, fire, building and perimeter systems and presents them on one map-based operator interface. NICE Situator, Vidsys, CNL Software ipSecurityCenter and Software House C·CURE 9000 are examples.

PSIM does not replace the VMS, access system or intrusion panel. It integrates them at the data level, with collection, correlation, verification, written operating procedures, reporting and an audit trail.

Where PSIM still wins: large command-and-control rooms overseeing many established, mixed-vendor systems, such as airports, mass transit, city programmes, defence, energy and ports. The systems are too large and too policy-bound to replace, so PSIM coordinates the existing investment.

Where open PSaaS wins: commercial, retail, hospitality, education, healthcare, housing and other multi-site estates choosing one platform and wanting cloud delivery without an on-premises command server room. TetherX connects mixed-vendor cameras, access, intrusion and monitoring in one console, and runs its own control-room workflows or feeds an existing monitoring provider such as Immix. See the Immix comparison.

PSaaS is absorbing standalone VSaaS in the mid-market: buyers who once ran separate cloud video, access, intruder and monitoring contracts now expect one platform. TetherX ships as PSaaS even though many procurement templates still ask for a cloud VMS.

PSIM will move more slowly. Enterprise control rooms have years of on-premises investment and, in some sectors, no-cloud policies, so PSIM keeps its place at the top end.

A typical TetherBox setup takes about 15 minutes, without port forwarding or a static IP.

TetherX trains your team free of charge to run the platform. Your accredited installer provides hardware changes and on-site support.

Yes. Arrange a 30-day free trial through an installer partner with a TetherBox, with full platform access for video, alarms, access and monitoring integration, and a dedicated onboarding contact.
WHO YOU ARE BUYING FROM

Closed PSaaS vendors and TetherX

Closed PSaaS vendors

Closed PSaaS grew from cloud-managed cameras in the mid-2010s. Venture-funded YourSix (founded 2015) and Verkada (2016) now cover video, access and sensors on one platform. IPVM's “hostage as a service” report puts Meraki, Rhombus and Verkada in one group, because their devices work only while licensed.

TetherX

Founded by UK security installers in 2009, TetherX launched in 2011, raised product funding in 2018 and became independent in 2022. In 2026, we launched TetherX AI and expanded into Australia with local support on the ground. With no VC, private-equity or camera-manufacturer owner, customers and installers shape our roadmap.

Read the TetherX story

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ALSO COMPARED

See TetherX against another VMS

Researching options? Read the side-by-side for each VMS the channel asks about most.

Network Optix / Nx Witness

On-prem-first VMS with cloud overlay - same engine ships as DW Spectrum and Wisenet WAVE. Russian engineering heritage flag for NDAA/AUKUS procurement.

Verkada

Closed proprietary ecosystem vs open cameras, no lock-in.

Compliance and ringfencing

Keep existing kit secure where rules allow; phase replacement where they require it. Covers NDAA, UK, AU, India.

Cisco Meraki

Tied to Cisco networking stack vs network-agnostic.
See all comparisons

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Across the partner network

TetherX partners hold the accreditations security-procurement buyers and insurers filter on. Coverage varies by partner.

NSI 9 ISO 9001 6 SSAIB 5 SafeContractor 5 BAFE 4 CHAS 4 ConstructionLine 4 Cyber Essentials 3 NICEIC 2 ISO 14001 2

Counts reflect partners currently in the TetherX directory holding each accreditation.

References (33 public sources)
  1. IPVM, "Verkada Deceives School That Verkada Cameras Would Not 'Brick'", 17 April 2026 (public): cameras locked out when a licence lapses; RTSP revocable if the renewal is not paid
  2. IPVM, "Hostage As a Service (HaaS) - Meraki, Rhombus, and Verkada", 5 April 2021 (public)
  3. Verkada licensing: Command licences per camera, door and alarm site; 30-day expiry grace
  4. Verkada camera storage FAQ: live-viewing links not accessible while the camera is offline; archives only from Command
  5. Verkada, Introducing the new Verkada Alarms, 7 November 2024: replace any traditional panel with the BP52
  6. Verkada Command Connector FAQ, Q51: non-Verkada camera events not used
  7. Verkada Command Connector overview: plate recognition not supported on third-party cameras
  8. Verkada licence plate recognition guide: computation on Verkada LPR cameras
  9. Verkada Command Connector range
  10. Verkada low-latency RTSP: local network only, enabled in Command
  11. Verkada AI-powered deterrence: BZ11, Verkada intercoms and Verkada Sound Systems
  12. Verkada browser Camera Grids scope
  13. Verkada dedicated Viewing Station
  14. Verkada FedRAMP Moderate authorisation
  15. Verkada list prices, checked 16 October 2026: Connector range, channel licences extra, Alarms include professional monitoring
  16. Verkada list prices before the June 2026 rise (Wayback, 12 May 2026)
  17. Verkada 2026 pricing update
  18. Verkada Series D, 2022
  19. Verkada Series E, February 2025
  20. Installer discussion, r/accesscontrol, March 2025
  21. Installer experiences, r/accesscontrol, April 2025
  22. Installer experiences, r/accesscontrol, January 2026 (with Verkada-employee counterpoint, July 2026), including the DSC Neo panel removal
  23. Hanwha Vision, Wisenet SKY end-of-life notice, 3 July 2026 (effective 3 August 2026)
  24. MOBOTIX community FAQ, 24 April 2026: MOBOTIX CLOUD ends as reseller contracts expire
  25. Eagle Eye Camera Direct FAQ (names Brivo Eagle Eye Pro cameras)
  26. Brivo and Eagle Eye Networks merge, 29 December 2025
  27. YourSix about page: Y6OS video, access, audio, sensors and peripherals partners
  28. YourSix, VSaaS vs PSaaS: professional monitoring inside the PSaaS subscription
  29. Reddit r/meraki, 26 March 2025: users report devices on expired licences stop working and actively block traffic
  30. Rhombus support: after a combined power and internet outage, cameras stay non-recording until the internet returns
  31. Rhombus third-party camera integration guide: Relay bridges other cameras, each on a Rhombus licence
  32. Rhombus API regions: two production regions, US and EU
  33. Reddit r/k12sysadmin, Rhombus district deployment: 12 live cameras per desktop view

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[1] About this comparison. Information about other vendors is drawn from their public product pages, datasheets, integrator forums (Reddit, vendor user groups), public CVE databases (NVD, CISA), publicly-listed LinkedIn company pages (headcount, headquarters, founding year, leadership transitions and corporate ownership signals) and customer conversations - accurate to the best of our knowledge as of Q3 2026. Pricing, features, security posture and policies change. A vendor may have shipped a fix, dropped a price, added a region or changed an architecture since this page was last reviewed.

If you believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us and we will review and correct it. Trademarks and product names belong to their respective owners and are referenced here for identification only.

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