Agent DVR vs Moonfire NVR
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Agent DVR
Cross-platform DVR with AI object detection
VS
Moonfire NVR
Lightweight always-recording network video recorder
| Feature | Agent DVR | Moonfire NVR |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 69 · Good | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | Freeware | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 50 | ★ 1,746 |
| First released | 2020 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Blue Iris |
What are Agent DVR and Moonfire NVR?
Agent DVR
Agent DVR is a cross-platform video surveillance system from the makers of iSpy, with support for many camera types and AI-based object detection. It offers a modern web interface and can run as a standalone service.
- Wide camera support
- AI object detection
- Modern web interface
- Cross-platform service
Moonfire NVR
Moonfire NVR is an open-source security camera network video recorder focused on efficient, continuous recording. Written in Rust, it stores video with minimal overhead and provides a simple web interface to review footage.
- Continuous always-on recording
- Efficient storage handling
- Web review interface
- Low resource footprint
Agent DVR vs Moonfire NVR: key differences
Agent DVR is written in Shell, while Moonfire NVR is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Freeware for Agent DVR versus GPL-3.0 for Moonfire NVR. Moonfire NVR is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Agent DVR. Moonfire NVR is the more established project (first released 2018), while Agent DVR arrived in 2020. Moonfire NVR has the considerably larger community, at 1,746 GitHub stars versus 50.
Why pick each one
Choose Agent DVR if…
- Polished interface
- Good detection options
Watch out for
- Not open source
- Some features require a license
Choose Moonfire NVR if…
- Very efficient
- Reliable 24/7 recording
Watch out for
- Limited motion analytics
- Smaller feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Agent DVR or Moonfire NVR better?
Neither is universally better. Moonfire NVR has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Agent DVR and Moonfire NVR free and open-source?
Yes. Agent DVR is licensed under Freeware and Moonfire NVR under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Agent DVR and Moonfire NVR with Docker?
Agent DVR: yes. Moonfire NVR: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Agent DVR or Moonfire NVR?
Moonfire NVR has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Agent DVR. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.