DVR-Scan vs OpenALPR
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
OpenALPR
Automatic license plate recognition library
| Feature | DVR-Scan | OpenALPR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 513 | ★ 11,440 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris motion review | Rekor Scout, Plate Recognizer |
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
Choose OpenALPR if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.4k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is DVR-Scan or OpenALPR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenALPR has the larger community, while DVR-Scan is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are DVR-Scan and OpenALPR free and open-source?
Yes. DVR-Scan is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and OpenALPR under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DVR-Scan and OpenALPR with Docker?
DVR-Scan: check the project docs for container support. OpenALPR: yes.