datarhei Core 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?
datarhei Core
Self-hosted media server for video and camera stream processing
VS
ZoneMinder
Full-featured closed-circuit television software suite
| Feature | datarhei Core | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 277 | ★ 5,899 |
| First released | 2022 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Wowza, commercial video servers | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is datarhei Core or ZoneMinder better?
Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder has the larger community, while datarhei Core is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are datarhei Core and ZoneMinder free and open-source?
Yes. datarhei Core is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZoneMinder under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run datarhei Core and ZoneMinder with Docker?
datarhei Core: yes. ZoneMinder: yes.
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