Cameradar vs Motion
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
Motion
Lightweight motion-detection video surveillance daemon
| Feature | Cameradar | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,147 | ★ 4,030 |
| First released | 2016 | 2000 |
| Replaces | Commercial camera audit tools | Nest Cam |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Cameradar or Motion better?
Neither is universally better. Cameradar has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cameradar and Motion free and open-source?
Yes. Cameradar is licensed under MIT and Motion under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cameradar and Motion with Docker?
Cameradar: yes. Motion: yes.