iSpy vs OpenCvSharp
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?
iSpy
Open-source camera security and surveillance software
VS
OpenCvSharp
.NET wrapper for OpenCV computer vision
| Feature | iSpy | OpenCvSharp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C# | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,611 | ★ 6,056 |
| First released | 2007 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Commercial vision SDKs |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is iSpy or OpenCvSharp better?
Neither is universally better. OpenCvSharp has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are iSpy and OpenCvSharp free and open-source?
Yes. iSpy is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and OpenCvSharp under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run iSpy and OpenCvSharp with Docker?
iSpy: check the project docs for container support. OpenCvSharp: check the project docs for container support.