camera-streamer vs ZoneMinder
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
camera-streamer
High-performance camera streaming for Raspberry Pi
VS
ZoneMinder
Full-featured closed-circuit television software suite
| Feature | camera-streamer | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 442 | ★ 5,899 |
| First released | 2022 | 2002 |
| Replaces | mjpg-streamer | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
Why pick each one
Choose camera-streamer if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is camera-streamer or ZoneMinder better?
Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder has the larger community, while camera-streamer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are camera-streamer and ZoneMinder free and open-source?
Yes. camera-streamer is licensed under MIT and ZoneMinder under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run camera-streamer and ZoneMinder with Docker?
camera-streamer: yes. ZoneMinder: yes.