Moonfire NVR 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?
Moonfire NVR
Lightweight always-recording network video recorder
VS
OpenALPR
Automatic license plate recognition library
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | OpenALPR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,731 | ★ 11,440 |
| First released | 2018 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Rekor Scout, Plate Recognizer |
Why pick each one
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 Moonfire NVR or OpenALPR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenALPR has the larger community, while Moonfire NVR is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Moonfire NVR and OpenALPR free and open-source?
Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OpenALPR under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Moonfire NVR and OpenALPR with Docker?
Moonfire NVR: yes. OpenALPR: yes.