DVR-Scan vs motionEye
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?
DVR-Scan
Detect and extract motion events from video footage
VS
motionEye
Web frontend for the Motion video surveillance program
| Feature | DVR-Scan | motionEye |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 513 | ★ 4,651 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris motion review | Nest Cam |
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 DVR-Scan or motionEye better?
Neither is universally better. motionEye has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are DVR-Scan and motionEye free and open-source?
Yes. DVR-Scan is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and motionEye under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DVR-Scan and motionEye with Docker?
DVR-Scan: check the project docs for container support. motionEye: yes.