Indoor · 1080p
Tapo C100 review: the $16 indoor Tapo that still speaks RTSP.
More Tapo cameras TapoAppForPC streams
Compare with another Tapo camera before you commit to the Tapo C100.
TapoAppForPC's editors tested nine wired Tapo cameras across every indoor, outdoor, fixed and pan-tilt category. Filter by the category that matches your room, compare side-by-side with the Tapo C100, or open the full review.
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Indoor/Outdoor · 2K+
Tapo C120
2K+ wired indoor/outdoor camera, 2024 PCMag Editors Choice. Colour night vision, AI detection, IP66 weatherpro...
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Pan/Tilt · 1080p
Tapo C200
The bestselling pan/tilt Tapo, 40,000+ Amazon reviews. 360 degree horizontal, 114 degree vertical, two-way aud...
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Pan/Tilt · 3MP
Tapo C210
Upgraded C200 with 2304x1296 3MP sensor. Sharper night vision, same pan/tilt range. Our sweet-spot price/quali...
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Pan/Tilt · 2K QHD
Tapo C220
2K QHD 4MP with starlight sensor and AI detection. Smoothest pan/tilt in the indoor Tapo lineup, Amazon Choice...
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Pan/Tilt · 2K QHD AI
Tapo C225
2K QHD with colour night vision, AI person/pet detection, private mode. RTSP included, premium indoor pick.
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Outdoor wired · 2K+
Tapo C320WS
2K+ outdoor wired with person, vehicle and motion detection. IP66, starlight, 14,000+ Amazon reviews. Full RTS...
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Outdoor Pan/Tilt · 2K QHD
Tapo C520WS
Outdoor-rated IP66 pan/tilt 2K with siren, spotlight and full RTSP. Best outdoor Tapo that still works with ou...
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Outdoor Floodlight · 2K+
Tapo C720
2K+ outdoor wired floodlight camera with 2800-lumen dimmable light. No subscription needed, full RTSP support.
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Outdoor wired · 2K
Tapo C325WB
ColorPro outdoor wired 2K starlight camera with full colour night vision. IP66 weatherproof, person detection,...
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Battery · 4K Solar
Tapo C465 MagCam 4K
4K battery camera with magnetic solar mount. Google AI overview top pick. RTSP is disabled on battery firmware...
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Dual-lens · 2K+
Tapo C246D Hybrid
Dual-lens hybrid camera with 125 degree fixed wide and 360 degree pan-tilt. RTSP support is per-lens on firmwa...
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Outdoor Dual-lens · 2K+2K
Tapo C545D
Outdoor-rated dual-lens Tapo with a 165 degree fixed wide plus a 6mm telephoto pan-tilt lens, both at 2K. IP66...
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Outdoor Pan/Tilt · 4K 8MP
Tapo C560WS
4K 8MP outdoor wired pan-tilt Tapo with 326 degree pan, 53 degree tilt, starlight colour night vision and on-d...
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Battery Solar Floodlight · 2K 3MP
Tapo C615F KIT
Outdoor battery pan-tilt floodlight Tapo that ships as a kit with the A201 solar panel and bracket. 2K 3MP sta...
Not what you're after? Browse all Tapo camera reviews or check the full 65-model compatibility list.
The Tapo C100 sits at the bottom of TP-Link's indoor lineup and does exactly what a fifteen dollar camera should do. It mounts in two minutes, it streams 1080p over local Wi-Fi, and it speaks the same RTSP dialect that the $50 models use. For a baby monitor, a pet cam, or a second angle inside a home office, it is the easiest way onto a desktop multi-camera grid without spending real money.
Design and build favour simplicity.
The C100 is a fixed plastic cube on a swivel stand, about the size of a golf ball. TP-Link skipped the magnetic base, the pan/tilt motor, and every other moving part, which is why the price stays at $15.96 against a $19.99 RRP. The trade is obvious. You point it once, you screw it down, and you leave it alone. A single micro-USB cable powers the unit, a single reset pin sits on the back, and a single microSD slot accepts cards up to 128 GB for local recording.
Image quality holds at 1080p for the price.
The 2 megapixel sensor renders 1920 by 1080 at 15 frames per second with a 115 degree horizontal field of view. The picture is sharp enough to read a label across a desk and clean enough to tell a cat from a toddler, but it is not the camera to read a licence plate across a garage. Exposure compensation handles backlit windows better than the $10 no-name alternatives on Amazon, and the picture stays stable through the typical evening light drop.
Night vision uses plain infrared.
The C100 ships with two 850 nanometre infrared LEDs that throw a usable beam out to 30 feet. The picture is monochrome, grainy at the edges, and completely silent on insect activity, which is the usual compromise at this price. If colour night vision matters, jump up to the C120 or C210. If an infrared spotlight on a shelf is fine, the C100 delivers it.
Two-way audio plays in any browser.
Two-way audio works through the built-in microphone and speaker. TP-Link encodes the feed in an 8 kHz telephony audio format that every wired Tapo uses and that no modern browser can decode natively. Inside TapoAppForPC, the bundled audio layer handles that format automatically so the C100 plays sound inside a Mac or Windows browser window with no extra configuration.
RTSP and TapoAppForPC compatibility are full.
The C100 appears on TP-Link's official RTSP support list under the indoor fixed-lens family. Inside the Tapo phone app, an Advanced Settings screen enables a Camera Account with a username and password. TapoAppForPC finds the camera automatically on the home Wi-Fi, pulls the main 1080p stream, and renders it inside the live grid alongside every other Tapo on the subnet.
Setup in the web app takes three steps.
Open tapoappforpc.com/app in any desktop browser, click Scan Network, and enter the Camera Account password from the Tapo phone app. The C100 shows up inside the grid in under sixty seconds. There is no RTSP URL to paste, no router port to forward, and no cloud account to create.
Who should buy the Tapo C100.
Buy the C100 if the total budget is under twenty dollars, the camera location is indoors on a fixed shelf, and the goal is to add a second or third feed to an existing TapoAppForPC grid. Skip the C100 if the room needs colour night vision, if a pan/tilt sweep is useful, or if the camera needs to sit outside a window frame.
Alternatives to the Tapo C100.
The Tapo C200 adds a full pan/tilt motor for two dollars more, which is the better pick when the camera will cover a whole room. The Tapo C120 doubles the resolution to 2K+ and adds colour night vision and an IP66 outdoor rating for about fifteen dollars more.
Verdict on the Tapo C100.
At $15.96 with a 4.4 star average across 24,927 Amazon reviews, the C100 is the cheapest honest Tapo you can put on a desktop grid. It is a fixed 1080p cube with infrared night vision and two-way audio, and it earns its spot for anyone assembling a multi-camera setup on a budget.
Put the Tapo C100 on your desktop grid.
TapoAppForPC streams the Tapo C100 directly over the local network at its native 1080p resolution with live AAC audio. No cloud, no subscription, no Android emulator.
Tapo C100 frequently asked questions.
Does the Tapo C100 support RTSP on TapoAppForPC?
Yes. The Tapo C100 appears on TP-Link's official RTSP support list and streams over rtsp://CAMERA_IP:554/stream1 after a Camera Account is enabled inside the Tapo phone app. TapoAppForPC auto-discovers the camera on the local Wi-Fi.
Is the Tapo C100 good enough for a baby monitor?
Yes. The 1080p sensor, 115 degree field of view, infrared night vision, and two-way audio cover the typical baby monitor use case. TapoAppForPC adds the ability to watch the stream on a laptop in a home office.
Does the Tapo C100 have colour night vision?
No. The C100 uses plain 850 nanometre infrared for monochrome night footage. For colour night vision at a similar size, step up to the Tapo C120 or C210.
How much does the Tapo C100 cost?
$15.96 on Amazon US at the time of this review, against a $19.99 RRP. Prices refresh quarterly.
Does the Tapo C100 work on Mac?
Yes through TapoAppForPC, which runs as a native web app on macOS and Windows. The Tapo phone app does not ship a Mac build, so the C100 reaches the desktop through the local RTSP route.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices refresh quarterly and were current as of April 2026.