Cameradar vs zmNinja

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?
FeatureCameradarzmNinja
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguageGoJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,147★ 1,080
First released20162015
ReplacesCommercial camera audit toolsCommercial CCTV apps

Why pick each one

Choose Cameradar if…

  • Useful for securing cameras
  • Lightweight
Cameradar details

Choose zmNinja if…

  • Polished ZoneMinder client
  • Works on all platforms
zmNinja details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cameradar or zmNinja better?

Neither is universally better. Cameradar has the larger community, while zmNinja is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Cameradar and zmNinja free and open-source?

Yes. Cameradar is licensed under MIT and zmNinja under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cameradar and zmNinja with Docker?

Cameradar: yes. zmNinja: check the project docs for container support.

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