"How much does CCTV cost?" is almost always the first question we get, and it's a fair one — with camera count, resolution, and recording days all changing the price, a single number would be misleading. This guide breaks down real pricing from two different routes: a custom system quoted after a free site survey, and a pre-configured package straight from our catalog, so you can budget accurately before you commit to either.
What's Actually Included in a CCTV Quote
A proper CCTV quote should cover the cameras themselves, the DVR or NVR recorder, a hard drive sized for your chosen retention period, all cabling and connectors, mounting hardware, and professional installation and configuration — including setting up the mobile app for remote viewing. If a quote only lists camera and recorder prices with cabling and labour as a vague "extra," ask for an itemised breakdown before you compare it against anything else.
The Main Cost Drivers
Number of Cameras and Coverage Area
This is the single biggest factor. Every additional camera adds not just the unit cost but a recorder channel, a cable run, and installation time — a 4-camera system and an 8-camera system aren't just "double the cameras," they're a materially different job.
Camera Resolution and Night-Vision Spec
2MP (1080p) is the budget-friendly baseline; 4MP and 5MP step up in image detail and generally add smart features like human/vehicle detection; 8MP (4K) costs the most and is worth it mainly for high-security areas where identification detail genuinely matters.
How Many Days of Footage You Want Stored
Recorder and hard-drive cost scale with retention. Most homes are comfortable with 15–30 days; businesses that need footage for dispute resolution or insurance often ask for 60–90 days, which means a larger drive or an NVR with more storage headroom.
Cable Routing — New Build vs. Retrofitting
Cabling during construction, before walls and ceilings close up, is noticeably cheaper than retrofitting cameras into a finished building, where cable has to be routed around existing structure and finishes without leaving a mess behind.
Typical Pricing for a Custom-Quoted System
For a custom system — where we select individual cameras and a recorder to match your site survey rather than starting from a fixed package — typical pricing in the Kandy area runs: a basic 4-camera 2MP system with installation from around LKR 45,000 to LKR 65,000; a 4MP system from LKR 65,000 to LKR 95,000; and premium 4K systems starting from LKR 120,000. These figures include cameras, recorder, hard drive, cabling, and professional installation — they scale up from there with more cameras, higher resolution, or longer retention.
Pre-Configured Package Pricing
The other route is one of our pre-configured CCTV camera packages — fixed hardware bundles (mostly Hikvision Turbo HD, ColorVU, and Acusense lines with smart human/vehicle detection built in) at a published price, rather than a custom-built quote. Current catalog pricing by camera count:
- 2-camera packages — LKR 54,900 to LKR 106,800
- 3-camera packages — LKR 68,600 to LKR 134,200
- 4-camera packages — LKR 82,200 to LKR 146,400
- 5-camera packages — LKR 105,600 to LKR 219,500
- 6-camera packages — LKR 119,200 to LKR 247,400
- 7-camera packages — LKR 132,900 to LKR 275,300
- 8-camera packages — LKR 146,500 to LKR 303,200
These packages tend to sit above the "basic" custom-system pricing above because the hardware itself is a step up — ColorVU full-time colour recording, smart hybrid dual-light cameras, and human/vehicle alert notifications are standard across most of the range, not a basic 2MP setup. The spread within each camera count reflects resolution (2MP through 5MP) and feature tier.
Custom Quote or Pre-Configured Package — Which Should You Choose?
A pre-configured package makes sense when your property is fairly straightforward — a home or small shop where a standard camera count and layout will cover it, and you want a known price before you call anyone. A custom quote makes more sense once your property has an irregular layout, mixed indoor/outdoor coverage, longer cable runs, or you want to mix resolutions across different zones (say, 4K on the main entrance, 2MP everywhere else) — the free site survey is what lets us right-size that instead of guessing.
Where People Overspend — and Underspend
- Overspending on 4K everywhere — a narrow indoor hallway or a small shop counter rarely needs 4K detail; putting the budget into 4K on the one or two angles that actually need identification detail (an entrance, a till) and 2MP or 4MP elsewhere gets better overall coverage for the same money.
- Underspending on storage days — a cheaper, smaller hard drive that only holds a week of footage can mean the exact incident you needed is already overwritten by the time you go looking for it.
- Skimping on cabling to save a small amount — a mid-range camera on properly run, tested cabling will consistently outperform a premium camera on poor cabling, and re-running cable after the fact costs far more than doing it right the first time.
- Buying camera count before coverage planning — deciding "we need 8 cameras" before walking the property and identifying actual entrances and blind spots often leaves real gaps while over-covering low-risk areas.
A Real Project for Reference
For Silva Supermarket in Kundasale, we deployed 48 cameras across 3 branches — 16 per branch, covering sales floors, storage, and cash counters, with centralised remote monitoring, POS-integrated cameras, and 60-day retention. It's a useful reference point for how the cost drivers above stack up on a real multi-site commercial job, not just a single-property estimate.
Ongoing Costs After Installation
Day-to-day running costs are minimal — mainly electricity for the recorder. Many clients add an Annual Maintenance Contract, which starts from around LKR 15,000 per year depending on system size, covering scheduled preventive visits, camera cleaning, firmware updates, and priority support if something needs attention.
Getting an Accurate Quote
Every price above is a starting reference, not a substitute for seeing your actual property. Our CCTV installation service includes a free, no-obligation site survey across Kandy and our wider service areas — we'll walk the property, confirm camera count and placement, and give you an itemised quote (or point you to the right pre-configured package) before anything is ordered.