AI Box or Video Analytics Software: Which to Choose
Both run the same analytics. The difference is where the compute lives and who owns it.
| Attribute | AI Box | Video Analytics Software |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | ARSA appliance, on site | Your servers |
| Cameras per unit | 3, 12, or 25, by model | Bounded by your GPU capacity |
| Procurement | Appliance purchased outright, software perpetual or subscription | Software only, perpetual or subscription |
| Entry price | $2,260appliance, plus software licences | $35 to $48per camera per month, by module |
| Deployment effort | Connect, configure, monitor | Provision servers, deploy containers, configure |
| Best for | Sites without IT infrastructure, fast multi-site rollout | Organisations with existing server capacity and IT staff |
| Offline operation | Yes; a subscription checks in every 7 days | Yes; a subscription checks in every 7 days |
| Who maintains hardware | ARSA, under warranty | You |
Choose the AI Box if
- You have cameras but no server capacity
- You have no IT team to maintain infrastructure
- You are rolling out across many small sites quickly
- You want hardware failure to be someone else’s problem
- You need a deployment that works with no network
Choose the AI Software if
- You already run server capacity with GPU headroom
- You have IT staff who deploy and maintain containers
- You want central processing across many sites
- You need to scale by allocating compute, not procuring units
- You have procurement rules that favour software licences over hardware
MATCHING
Which Sites The AI Box And The Software Suit
AI Box
- Your camera
- AI Box on site
- Alerts and dashboard
Software on your server
- Your camera
- Your own server
- Alerts and dashboard
THIS IS FOR
- Manufacturing and industrial sites with existing CCTV and safety obligations
- Government and defence facilities requiring on-premise processing
- Transport authorities monitoring road networks
- Retail chains measuring footfall across many stores
- Media owners measuring digital signage audiences
THIS IS NOT FOR
- Organisations wanting a cloud VMS: ARSA records on site, 3 days by default, never in the cloud
- Single-camera home or small-office use
- Buyers needing certified medical or forensic evidence output
- Deployments where cameras cannot meet the minimum specification and cannot be replaced
FAQ
AI Box Versus Software: Cost And Buying Questions
Can I run both the AI Box and the software in one deployment?
Yes, and most multi-site deployments do. Remote sites run AI Box systems; the main site runs software on existing servers. Both report into one dashboard.
Which is cheaper over three years, and does the answer change at five?
It depends on whether you already own server capacity. If you do, software alone is cheaper at every horizon. If you do not, the AI Box is cheaper once the cost of buying, provisioning, and maintaining a server is included. In both cases, buying the analytics licences outright becomes cheaper than subscribing on longer horizons.
Does the analytics accuracy differ between the two?
No. Both run the same models, detection classes and settings. The only difference is the hardware they run on and who owns it.
Which one do government buyers usually choose?
Perpetual, in both product lines, because subscription commitments are difficult under many capital budget rules. The choice between appliance and software is usually decided by whether the facility has an existing accredited server environment.
Not Sure Which Fits?
Send us up to three one-minute clips from your own cameras and an ARSA engineer returns an annotated clip, a report and a 30-minute call within 3 business days, free. On the call we tell you whether the AI Box or the video analytics software suits your site. For a full rollout plan, a feasibility assessment produces an operational diagnosis, a technical feasibility judgement and a cost model in two weeks.
Every deployment follows the same steps: a site survey, a check of each camera against our placement standard, installation on an AI Box or your own servers, tuning on your footage and a handover. Video is processed on site, the system works without an internet connection, and the clips you send for an assessment are never used to train our models. ARSA has built on-premise video analytics for restricted-area security at the Indonesian Ministry of Defense.
Related reading: the complete guide to edge AI boxes, software or edge for plant safety monitoring, edge AI against cloud AI for video analytics and air-gapped AI for defence and government sites.