Sharpvue vs. Verkada MT81: mobile surveillance trailer comparison
This is the closest thing to a like-for-like comparison in the category: both companies sell the trailer rather than leasing it, and both publish real specifications. Where they diverge is camera and platform flexibility, and which figures each chooses to disclose. This guide sets out both from public information.
In short: Verkada publishes a price and more solar wattage; Sharpvue publishes runtime and supports more platforms. If your organization already runs Verkada Command, the MT81 puts off-grid sites in a console your team already uses, and that convenience is worth real money. If you want the trailer to outlive a platform decision, that is the argument for an architecture that speaks RTSP and ONVIF.
This page is published by Sharpvue, which manufactures the Sharpvue trailers described here. Sharpvue is not affiliated with Verkada. Statements about Verkada come from Verkada's own public materials as of September 2026 and are cited at the foot of the page.
| Category | Sharpvue | Verkada |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile surveillance trailer | MAST (22 ft mast) and MAST-mini (16 ft mast) | MT81 cloud-managed security trailer. |
| Manufacture & country of origin | Designed and manufactured in Chapin, South Carolina; country of origin United States | Not publicly specified |
| Solar power | 1,170 W solar array (MAST) | 1600 W solar panel. |
| Battery capacity | 200 Ah @ 48V battery bank (MAST) | 6.6 or 13.2 kWh lithium battery. |
| Runtime without solar | 8–10 days of continuous operation on a full charge, per the published MAST specifications. Runtime depends on configuration, camera count, system load, ambient temperature, battery condition and available solar. | Not publicly specified |
| Recharge characteristics | 6–8 hours of sunlight to a full charge (MAST); 5 hours (MAST-mini). An external generator input (100 A Anderson connector) is available for faster charging. Recharge time depends on solar availability and conditions. | Not publicly specified |
| Mast configuration | 22 ft telescoping mast (MAST); 16 ft (MAST-mini) | 24 ft telescoping mast. |
| Camera flexibility | MAST is configured with a Sharpvue Low Power PTZ and two panoramic 180° cameras (SV-C8477-HPG1), 14 W total camera draw. Cameras publish standard RTSP streams and support ONVIF. | Supports up to six Verkada cameras; cameras are sold separately. Third-party camera support is not stated. |
| VMS architecture | Choice of Sharpvue iVISION (cloud), Alarm.com for Business, or OpenEye. Standard RTSP streams and ONVIF support also allow use with a third-party VMS. | Operates with Verkada cameras on Verkada's cloud platform. Third-party VMS support is not stated. |
| AI analytics | AI-powered alerts, search and analytics in the iVISION VMS | Not publicly specified |
| Remote diagnostics | ODIN, the AI agent built into Sharpvue trailers, reads power, connectivity, VMS, gateway and camera state and reports faults through the Sharpvue dealer portal. Dealers can run remote remediation such as clearing a stuck gateway or power-cycling a VMS. | Not publicly specified |
| Cellular connectivity | Multi-carrier 5G / LTE (not bonded) with automatic carrier-to-carrier failover | GC31-E cellular gateway for remote access. |
| Satellite connectivity | Starlink available as an option | Not publicly specified |
| LPR options | Not publicly specified | “Advanced LPR”, with LPR bullet cameras. |
| Audio deterrence | Sharpvue BLAST IP strobe speaker — 120 dB siren with two-way talk-down and listen-in, native ONVIF and SIP, PoE powered | BZ11 horn speaker. |
| Strobes / visual deterrence | Sharpvue BLAST includes front and rear strobe warning lights. The SUPER BLAST three-zone lighting model is announced but not yet released. | Flashing blue LED strobe light. |
| Cloud capabilities | Continuous 24/7 recording to the iVISION cloud, with unlimited users and unlimited concurrent streams | Cloud-managed trailer. |
| NDAA Section 889 posture | Published as NDAA compliant; country of origin United States. Component-level documentation available on request. | Not publicly specified |
| Dealer / reseller support | Authorized dealer network with a dealer portal covering fleet health, mapping and remote diagnostics | Not publicly specified |
| Purchase options | Purchase through Sharpvue or an authorized dealer | MT81-6KWH $58,000 USD MSRP; MT81-13KWH $65,000 USD MSRP. “Price includes trailer hardware only. Additional license required.” |
| Rental options | Dealer rental program, available on both OpenEye and Alarm.com configurations | Not publicly specified |
| Monitoring options | Remote video monitoring available; no monitoring subscription is required in order to own the hardware | Not publicly specified |
| Publicly available pricing | Not published. Quoted per configuration; full hardware spec tables are published ungated. | Published MSRP: MT81-6KWH $58,000; MT81-13KWH $65,000. Trailer hardware only — an additional license is required, and cameras, gateways and speakers are sold separately. The license price was not stated on Verkada's pricing page at the time of review. |
“Not publicly specified” means the figure was not found in the vendor's public materials during our last review — it does not mean the capability is absent. Ask the vendor directly. 2 further categories were omitted from this table because neither company publishes information on them.
Reading Verkada's published price properly
Verkada deserves genuine credit for publishing MSRP at all — almost nobody else in this category does, and it saves buyers a discovery call. But the number needs its qualifiers attached, or it produces a misleading comparison.
The published figures are $58,000 for the MT81-6KWH and $65,000 for the MT81-13KWH. Verkada's pricing page states the price includes trailer hardware only, that an additional license is required, and that connected devices such as cameras, gateways and speakers are sold separately. A trailer with no cameras is not a surveillance system, so the delivered cost of a working six-camera unit with a cellular gateway, a speaker and licensing is meaningfully above the headline.
That is not a criticism of Verkada's pricing — unbundling hardware from devices is normal for a company that sells cameras as a separate line. It does mean that when you compare a Verkada MSRP against a quote from a vendor that prices the configured unit, you are not comparing the same thing. Ask every vendor for a delivered price on an identical camera count.
Power: more solar, less disclosure on runtime
On raw power hardware Verkada publishes the larger numbers: a 1600 W solar panel against Sharpvue's 1,170 W array, and a battery of 6.6 or 13.2 kWh against Sharpvue's 200 Ah at 48V — roughly 9.6 kWh nominal, sitting between Verkada's two options.
What Verkada does not publish is runtime or recharge time, and those are the figures that decide whether a unit survives a bad week. Capacity is only half the equation: runtime is capacity divided by load, and load depends on camera count, analytics running at the edge, radio power and heating or cooling. Sharpvue publishes 8–10 days on a full charge with a 6–8 hour solar recharge and a documented 14 W total camera draw, plus a 100 A Anderson generator input for sites where solar cannot keep up.
Interpretation: a bigger battery and more panel is a good sign, and with 13.2 kWh the MT81 has real headroom. But because Verkada publishes capacity without load or runtime, you cannot compute how long it lasts from public information. If your site is shaded, northern, or winter-critical, make runtime under stated conditions a written requirement for both vendors. The engineering behind those numbers is covered in solar surveillance trailer runtime explained.
Mast height and what it actually buys you
Verkada publishes a 24 ft telescoping mast; Sharpvue publishes 22 ft on the MAST and 16 ft on the MAST-mini. Two feet is not a decisive difference, but mast height generally is the most under-appreciated specification on a surveillance trailer: raising a camera increases the ground area it can cover and, more importantly, improves the depression angle so people and vehicles are separated rather than overlapping in frame.
If wide-area coverage is the point — a 400-space lot, a laydown yard, a solar farm perimeter — height matters more than resolution. It is also why Mobile Pro Systems' published 33 ft mast is a genuine differentiator for very large sites; see that comparison if that is your constraint.
Cameras, platform, and the decision that outlives the trailer
Verkada publishes that the MT81 supports up to six Verkada cameras, sold separately, and includes a GC31-E cellular gateway, a BZ11 horn speaker, a flashing blue LED strobe, and advanced LPR with LPR bullet cameras. That is a well-specified, complete package, and the LPR position is published more clearly than most of this field manages.
Sharpvue configures the MAST with a low-power PTZ and two panoramic 180° cameras, publishes audio and visual deterrence via the BLAST IP strobe speaker (120 dB, two-way talk-down, front and rear strobes, ONVIF and SIP), and supports iVISION, Alarm.com for Business or OpenEye, with RTSP and ONVIF for a third-party VMS. Trailer-mounted LPR is not published as a Sharpvue configuration, so this page does not claim it — if plate capture is a requirement, Verkada publishes a clearer answer today and you should weigh that.
Interpretation: a trailer is a five-to-ten year asset and a platform decision is usually a shorter one. The question worth sitting with is what happens in year four if you want to change video platforms — whether the hardware follows you, or whether replacing the software means replacing the fleet.
Connectivity
Verkada publishes a GC31-E cellular gateway for remote access. Multi-carrier failover behaviour and satellite are not stated. Sharpvue runs multi-carrier 5G/LTE with automatic carrier-to-carrier failover and offers Starlink as an option.
For a retail lot in a metro area this rarely matters. For early construction, utility corridors or rural industrial sites it can be the whole decision — a surveillance trailer with no backhaul is a very expensive local recorder.
Buying, renting and support model
Neither company positions the trailer as a rental. Verkada sells at MSRP through its channel; rental and monitoring options for the trailer are not published. Sharpvue sells through authorized dealers and also offers a dealer rental program on OpenEye and Alarm.com configurations, which covers short deployments without a purchase.
For fleets, the operational question is what happens when a unit goes offline in another state. Sharpvue provides ODIN for remote diagnostics and remediation through the dealer portal. A customer-facing fleet diagnostics tool for the MT81 was not found in Verkada's trailer materials, though Verkada Command provides device health for its cameras generally — worth confirming with them what that covers for a trailer specifically.
Questions buyers should ask both vendors
- 01What is the delivered price of the configuration I actually need, including cameras, gateways, speakers and the license?
- 02What is the license, what does it cost per year, and what happens to the unit if I stop paying it?
- 03What is the documented runtime with no solar input, and under what load was it measured?
- 04How many cameras can the unit carry, and is the limit a power limit, a licensing limit, or a mounting limit?
- 05Can the cameras stream to a VMS I choose, and by what protocol?
- 06Is the battery covered by the hardware warranty for its full term, or treated as a consumable?
- 07What is the mast height, and how does that change ground coverage per camera at my site?
- 08Can I get component-level NDAA Section 889 documentation if procurement requires it?
Verkada
Best for: Organizations already standardized on Verkada
Verkada extended its enterprise cloud platform to off-grid sites with the MT81 cloud-managed security trailer. It is one of the very few vendors in the category that publishes a full MSRP, and its published specifications are unusually complete. The trailer supports up to six Verkada cameras, which are purchased separately, so adopting it generally means adopting the Verkada ecosystem for those sites.
Strengths
- Publishes full MSRP for both battery configurations — rare in this category
- Publishes detailed hardware specifications: 1600 W solar, 6.6 or 13.2 kWh battery, 24 ft mast
- Includes a horn speaker and strobe, and publishes LPR support
- 5-year hardware warranty
- Clean integration for organizations already running Verkada
Points to compare
- Camera support is stated as Verkada cameras, up to six per unit; third-party camera or VMS support is not stated
- The published price covers trailer hardware only — cameras, gateways and speakers are additional, and a license is required
- Runtime and recharge figures are not published
- Rental and monitoring options for the trailer are not published
Choose Verkada if: Your organization already runs Verkada and you want off-grid sites in the same console, or you specifically need a trailer with a published purchase price and published specifications.
Strengths and points to compare are Sharpvue's interpretation of Verkada's publicly available information, not statements of fact. Verkada's official product information.
Sharpvue
Best for: Buyers who want to choose their own monitoring platform, and dealers or integrators building a service around the hardware
Sharpvue designs and manufactures the MAST (Mobile AI Surveillance Trailer) line in Chapin, South Carolina. Units are solar-charged, run multi-carrier 5G/LTE with optional Starlink, record continuously to the iVISION cloud, and carry NDAA-compliant cameras. Sharpvue takes a different approach on the software layer: the same trailer can be operated on Sharpvue iVISION, Alarm.com for Business, or OpenEye, and because the cameras publish standard RTSP streams and support ONVIF, it can also feed a third-party VMS a customer already runs.
Strengths
- Manufactured in the United States, published as NDAA Section 889 compliant, with documentation available for regulated buyers
- Supports a choice of three monitoring platforms (iVISION, Alarm.com for Business, OpenEye) rather than a single required platform
- Cameras publish standard RTSP streams and support ONVIF, so the trailer can feed a VMS the customer already operates
- Available to purchase or to rent through the authorized dealer network
- Continuous recording to the cloud, so footage is retained off the unit
- Multi-carrier 5G/LTE with automatic carrier-to-carrier failover, plus optional Starlink
- Full hardware spec tables published for every model, ungated
Points to compare
- Smaller installed base and brand footprint than LVT or ECAM
- No in-house national guard-response service; live monitoring is delivered through the platform and dealer ecosystem
- Pricing is quoted per configuration rather than published
Choose Sharpvue if: You want to own or rent purpose-built American hardware, choose the monitoring platform that fits your operation, and avoid committing to one closed ecosystem.
Strengths and points to compare are Sharpvue's interpretation of Sharpvue's publicly available information, not statements of fact. Sharpvue's official product information.
Who might choose Verkada?
Verkada may be the strong option for organizations already standardized on Verkada across their buildings, for buyers who need a published purchase price to get a requisition approved, and for sites where LPR is a stated requirement and a clear published answer matters. The 13.2 kWh battery option and 1600 W array give it real power headroom, and the 5-year hardware warranty is unusually explicit for this category.
Who should consider Sharpvue?
Sharpvue suits buyers who want documented runtime rather than capacity alone, who want the trailer to work with a platform they choose now or later, who need NDAA documentation and US manufacture, who want dealer rental as well as purchase, and who are running distributed fleets where remote diagnostics reduce truck rolls. Integrators and dealers building a service on owned hardware are the clearest fit.
Relevant reading: MAST · AI cameras · iVISION cloud VMS · Open vs. proprietary platforms · Warranty
- What is the difference between Sharpvue and the Verkada MT81?
- Both are purchased hardware rather than leased managed programs, which makes this the most like-for-like comparison in the category. The difference is what the trailer is allowed to carry and where the video goes. Verkada publishes that the MT81 supports up to six Verkada cameras, with cameras sold separately and third-party camera support not stated. Sharpvue ships the trailer configured with its own cameras, but those cameras publish standard RTSP streams and support ONVIF, and the trailer is offered on Sharpvue iVISION, Alarm.com for Business or OpenEye. On power, Verkada publishes more solar (1600 W vs 1,170 W) and a larger battery in kWh terms, while Sharpvue publishes runtime and recharge figures that Verkada does not.
- How much does the Verkada MT81 cost?
- Verkada publishes MSRP, which is rare in this category: $58,000 for the MT81-6KWH and $65,000 for the MT81-13KWH. Read the qualifiers carefully — Verkada's pricing page states the price includes trailer hardware only, that an additional license is required, and that connected devices such as cameras, gateways and speakers are sold separately. So the published number is the starting point for a configured unit, not the delivered cost. Sharpvue does not publish pricing and quotes per configuration.
- Can the Verkada MT81 use third-party cameras?
- Third-party camera support is not stated in Verkada's public materials, and its trailer pages describe adding Verkada cameras up to a limit of six. We will not characterise it either way beyond that — ask Verkada directly. If mixing camera manufacturers matters to you, it is worth asking both vendors to confirm in writing which specific models are supported and by what protocol.
- Which trailer has more battery capacity?
- They publish in different units, which is worth converting before you compare. Verkada publishes 6.6 or 13.2 kWh lithium. Sharpvue publishes 200 Ah at 48V, which works out to roughly 9.6 kWh nominal — between Verkada's two options. But capacity alone does not tell you runtime, because runtime is capacity divided by system load, and the two units draw differently. Sharpvue publishes both a total camera draw of 14 W and a runtime of 8–10 days on a full charge; Verkada publishes neither runtime nor recharge time, so a direct runtime comparison is not possible from public sources.
- Which is better if we already run Verkada in our buildings?
- If your estate is standardised on Verkada and your team works in that console daily, the MT81 is the path of least resistance and that is a legitimate reason to choose it — one platform, one set of permissions, one place to pull evidence. The case for looking elsewhere is if you want off-grid sites on a platform you can change later, need camera types Verkada does not make, or need documented runtime for a site with poor solar exposure.
- Do both companies publish a warranty?
- Verkada publishes a 5-year hardware warranty on the MT81. Sharpvue publishes its warranty terms separately on its warranty page rather than in the trailer specifications. Warranty length, what it covers on a solar and battery system specifically, and whether batteries are treated as a consumable are worth asking both vendors — battery degradation is the most common long-term cost on any solar trailer.
Weighing the whole field? See the comparison center or what a mobile surveillance trailer actually costs.
Research & methodology
This comparison is compiled from publicly available information, including each manufacturer's own website and product documentation. Where a specification, capability or price is not published by the vendor, this page states “Not publicly specified” rather than guessing — that phrase means the information was not found in public sources, not that the vendor lacks the capability.
Statements of fact are cited below. Sections labelled as considerations, “best for”, or “who should choose” are Sharpvue's interpretation of that public information, not statements of fact.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Competitor products and services change. Prospective buyers should verify current specifications and pricing directly with each manufacturer before making a purchasing decision.
Sources
- Verkada — Verkada Pricing (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Verkada — Mobile Surveillance Trailers for Remote Video Monitoring (accessed 2026-09-07)
Sharpvue specifications referenced
All third-party trademarks, product names and company names are the property of their respective owners. Sharpvue is not affiliated with or endorsed by the companies referenced on this page unless otherwise stated. Comparisons are based on publicly available information as of September 2026 and may change. This page is published by Sharpvue, LLC, which manufactures and sells the mobile surveillance trailers described as Sharpvue products.
Compare Sharpvue for yourself
Every MAST figure is published ungated — solar, battery, runtime, recharge, camera draw, mast height and towing class. Check them against any MSRP and see which numbers you are actually getting.
Already using Verkada? Talk to a Sharpvue specialist about what adding Sharpvue to your fleet could look like.