The Pi path requires a lot more configuration just for the camera, they also cost about $120AUD + the camera add-on. So, compared to the $33 option, they don’t make as much sense.
I have bought a few ESP32+Cameras to try a setup kinda like yours, but with $12 cameras.
As for the monitoring, I use Home assistant and frigate as the end points for my CCTV, allowing me to view them while out of the house via the HA GUI as well as harnesing the processing power of the Pi running home assistant to do person detection on at least one of the video feeds. I have had some success running it on 2 or 3 video feeds but I am not 100% it isn’t pushing the system too hard and missing some detections.
My end goal is to find a camera that has the quality to be useful at a price that doesn’t put it out of reach for most people. Couple that with Home Assistant (or another NVR solution, although so far I haven’t had much success with other open source solutions) to provide locally hosted, reliable CCTV with person, face, other object detection depending on the situation.
