SHSelfHostIndex

Kerberos.io Machinery vs Moonfire NVR

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?
KE Kerberos.io Machinery Open-source video surveillance recording engine VS MO Moonfire NVR Lightweight always-recording network video recorder
FeatureKerberos.io MachineryMoonfire NVR
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageC++Rust
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 486★ 1,731
First released20142018
ReplacesMilestone XProtect, Blue IrisBlue Iris

Why pick each one

Choose Kerberos.io Machinery if…

  • Lightweight engine
  • Part of broader ecosystem
Kerberos.io Machinery details

Choose Moonfire NVR if…

  • Very efficient
  • Reliable 24/7 recording
Moonfire NVR details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kerberos.io Machinery or Moonfire NVR better?

Neither is universally better. Moonfire NVR has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Kerberos.io Machinery and Moonfire NVR free and open-source?

Yes. Kerberos.io Machinery is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Moonfire NVR under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Kerberos.io Machinery and Moonfire NVR with Docker?

Kerberos.io Machinery: yes. Moonfire NVR: yes.

Related comparisons