Moonfire NVR vs CameraView
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
CameraView
Android library for camera capture and streaming apps
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | CameraView |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,731 | ★ 5,128 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Proprietary camera SDKs |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Moonfire NVR or CameraView better?
Neither is universally better. CameraView has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Moonfire NVR and CameraView free and open-source?
Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and CameraView under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Moonfire NVR and CameraView with Docker?
Moonfire NVR: yes. CameraView: check the project docs for container support.