Moonfire NVR vs motionEye
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?
Moonfire NVR
Lightweight always-recording network video recorder
VS
motionEye
Web frontend for the Motion video surveillance program
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | motionEye |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,731 | ★ 4,651 |
| First released | 2018 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Nest Cam |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Moonfire NVR or motionEye better?
motionEye is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Moonfire NVR if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Moonfire NVR and motionEye free and open-source?
Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and motionEye under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Moonfire NVR and motionEye with Docker?
Moonfire NVR: yes. motionEye: yes.