mjpg-streamer vs Motion
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?
mjpg-streamer
Stream JPEG frames from webcams over HTTP
VS
Motion
Lightweight motion-detection video surveillance daemon
| Feature | mjpg-streamer | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,246 | ★ 4,030 |
| First released | 2013 | 2000 |
| Replaces | Webcam streaming services | Nest Cam |
Why pick each one
Choose mjpg-streamer if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is mjpg-streamer or Motion better?
Neither is universally better. Motion has the larger community, while mjpg-streamer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are mjpg-streamer and Motion free and open-source?
Yes. mjpg-streamer is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Motion under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mjpg-streamer and Motion with Docker?
mjpg-streamer: check the project docs for container support. Motion: yes.