Cameradar vs DVR-Scan
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?
Cameradar
RTSP stream discovery and access-auditing tool for cameras
VS
DVR-Scan
Detect and extract motion events from video footage
| Feature | Cameradar | DVR-Scan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,147 | ★ 513 |
| First released | 2016 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Commercial camera audit tools | Blue Iris motion review |
Why pick each one
Choose DVR-Scan if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Cameradar or DVR-Scan better?
Neither is universally better. Cameradar has the larger community, while DVR-Scan is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cameradar and DVR-Scan free and open-source?
Yes. Cameradar is licensed under MIT and DVR-Scan under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cameradar and DVR-Scan with Docker?
Cameradar: yes. DVR-Scan: check the project docs for container support.