mjpg-streamer vs OpenALPR
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
OpenALPR
Automatic license plate recognition library
| Feature | mjpg-streamer | OpenALPR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,246 | ★ 11,440 |
| First released | 2013 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Webcam streaming services | Rekor Scout, Plate Recognizer |
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
Choose OpenALPR if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.4k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is mjpg-streamer or OpenALPR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenALPR 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 OpenALPR free and open-source?
Yes. mjpg-streamer is licensed under GPL-2.0 and OpenALPR under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mjpg-streamer and OpenALPR with Docker?
mjpg-streamer: check the project docs for container support. OpenALPR: yes.