SHSelfHostIndex

Kerberos.io Machinery vs ZoneMinder

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 ZO ZoneMinder Full-featured closed-circuit television software suite
FeatureKerberos.io MachineryZoneMinder
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageC++PHP
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 486★ 5,899
First released20142002
ReplacesMilestone XProtect, Blue IrisBlue Iris, Milestone XProtect

Why pick each one

Choose Kerberos.io Machinery if…

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

Choose ZoneMinder if…

  • Very mature project
  • Highly configurable
ZoneMinder details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kerberos.io Machinery or ZoneMinder better?

Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder has the larger community, while Kerberos.io Machinery is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Kerberos.io Machinery and ZoneMinder free and open-source?

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

Can I run Kerberos.io Machinery and ZoneMinder with Docker?

Kerberos.io Machinery: yes. ZoneMinder: yes.

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