Martin Lewis reveals a money-saving trick to avoid Ring Doorbell's 43% price hike

MARTIN Lewis has shared a way to avoid Ring Doorbell's upcoming subscription price increases.

The Amazon-owned company faced anger from customers after announcing that the cost of its Protect Basic plan will increase by 43 percent next month.

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From March 11, monthly subscribers will now have to pay £4.99 instead of £3.49 – an increase of £1.50.

And those who choose to pay for a year in advance will face a £15 increase, from £34.99 to £49.99 for the 12 months.

Charges are per device, so if you have more than one Ring product, you'll pay

Protect Basic backs up video recordings of your doorbell stored in the cloud, and unlocks several bonus features like enhanced notifications and smart alerts.

Customers didn't take the announcement well last week, calling it “completely outrageous” and “insane.”

“Great job destroying your subscriber base! #ring #PriceHikeDisaster,” one user wrote.

“There can be no other acceptable justification for this rip-off other than greed and contempt for your customers,” said another.

'Then that's a farewell to me. Totally disgusting.'

Beat the price increase

But the Money Saving Expert, 51, has revealed a trick to prevent price increases for a year.

“I know many are annoyed so there is a possible solution,” he tweeted.

Martin Lewis says users can cancel today and get a pro-rata refund for the remainder of their subscription – it's penalty-free too.

You can then take out an annual subscription before March 11 for the current price of £34.99. After that it goes up to £49.99.

However, he does warn that this step may result in the loss of saved videos, so check this first and consider your options.

Another, more obvious solution that can save you even more money is to do away with the subscription altogether.

You can still answer the Ring doorbell in real time to whoever is at the door, but you can't save videos.

How do I cancel my Ring subscription?

Follow these instructions to cancel your Ring subscription:

• Go to Ring.com and log in to your account
• Search at the top Protection plan and click on it
• Find your subscription and click Cancel subscription
• Click Get on
• Choose between canceling immediately or at the end of the billing cycle. You need to click on the first one to take advantage of the above trick
• Click Cancel ring protection to confirm

Home security alternatives to Ring

There are a handful of good alternatives to Ring that share similar features, but they aren't always cheaper.

Arlo Safe

• The basic plan costs £2.79 per month for a single camera or £8.99 for unlimited cameras for 30 days of video storage, improved motion detection and a promise to replace your camera if it's stolen.
• The Secure Plus plan costs £12.99 per month for unlimited cameras and extends storage for up to 60 days.

Eufy cloud storage

• Eufy's basic plan offers 30 days of storage for £2.46 per month for one device.
• The Premier Plan covers up to 10 devices for £7.49 per month.

Google Nest Aware

• The basic level of Nest Aware gives you 30 days of video storage for £6 per month or £60 per year after last month's price rise.
• Nest Aware Plus extends that to 60 days of event video storage and also gives you 10 days of constant 24/7 video recording for £12 per month or £120 per year.

Ezviz Cloudplay

• With the Standard plan, you get just seven days of video history for one camera/doorbell for $2.49 per month, or four devices for $7.49 per month.
• The Elite plan offers 30 days of video history for one camera for £9.99 per month or £14.99 per month for four cameras.