SHSelfHostIndex

mjpg-streamer vs RPi Cam Web Interface

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?
MJ mjpg-streamer Stream JPEG frames from webcams over HTTP VS RP RPi Cam Web Interface Web-based control and streaming for the Raspberry Pi camera
Featuremjpg-streamerRPi Cam Web Interface
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguageCPHP
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM64 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 3,246★ 1,599
First released20132013
ReplacesWebcam streaming servicesNest 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
mjpg-streamer details

Choose RPi Cam Web Interface if…

  • Easy DIY setup
  • Lightweight
RPi Cam Web Interface details

Frequently asked questions

Is mjpg-streamer or RPi Cam Web Interface better?

Neither is universally better. mjpg-streamer has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are mjpg-streamer and RPi Cam Web Interface free and open-source?

Yes. mjpg-streamer is licensed under GPL-2.0 and RPi Cam Web Interface under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run mjpg-streamer and RPi Cam Web Interface with Docker?

mjpg-streamer: check the project docs for container support. RPi Cam Web Interface: check the project docs for container support.

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