Kerberos Vault vs ZoneMinder
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Kerberos Vault | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 37 · At risk | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 42 | ★ 5,936 |
| First released | 2021 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Milestone XProtect | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
What are Kerberos Vault and ZoneMinder?
Kerberos Vault
Kerberos Vault is a storage system that securely receives and manages recordings from Kerberos Agents and other surveillance sources. It connects to object storage backends and handles retention and routing of footage.
- Centralized recording storage
- Object storage integration
- Retention management
- Works with Kerberos Agents
ZoneMinder
ZoneMinder is a free, open-source, closed-circuit television software application for Linux that supports IP, USB, and analog cameras. It provides recording, monitoring, analysis, and a web-based control interface.
- IP, USB, and analog camera support
- Motion zones and analysis
- Event recording
- Web control interface
Kerberos Vault vs ZoneMinder: key differences
Kerberos Vault is written in Go, while ZoneMinder is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Kerberos Vault versus GPL-2.0 for ZoneMinder. Kerberos Vault is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for ZoneMinder. ZoneMinder is the more established project (first released 2002), while Kerberos Vault arrived in 2021. ZoneMinder has the considerably larger community, at 5,936 GitHub stars versus 42.
Why pick each one
Choose Kerberos Vault if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Go
Watch out for
- Part of a larger stack
- Hard to set up alone
Choose ZoneMinder if…
- Very mature project
- Highly configurable
Watch out for
- Complex installation
- Dated interface
Frequently asked questions
Is Kerberos Vault or ZoneMinder better?
Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kerberos Vault and ZoneMinder free and open-source?
Yes. Kerberos Vault is licensed under MIT and ZoneMinder under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kerberos Vault and ZoneMinder with Docker?
Kerberos Vault: yes. ZoneMinder: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kerberos Vault or ZoneMinder?
Kerberos Vault has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for ZoneMinder. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.