Cameradar vs mjpg-streamer
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
mjpg-streamer
Stream JPEG frames from webcams over HTTP
| Feature | Cameradar | mjpg-streamer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,147 | ★ 3,246 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Commercial camera audit tools | Webcam streaming services |
Why pick each one
Choose mjpg-streamer if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Cameradar or mjpg-streamer better?
Neither is universally better. Cameradar has the larger community, while mjpg-streamer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cameradar and mjpg-streamer free and open-source?
Yes. Cameradar is licensed under MIT and mjpg-streamer under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cameradar and mjpg-streamer with Docker?
Cameradar: yes. mjpg-streamer: check the project docs for container support.