SHSelfHostIndex

Moonfire NVR vs uStreamer

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?
MO Moonfire NVR Lightweight always-recording network video recorder VS US uStreamer Lightweight MJPEG streamer for USB and CSI cameras
FeatureMoonfire NVRuStreamer
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageRustC
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,731★ 2,021
First released20182018
ReplacesBlue Irismjpg-streamer

Why pick each one

Choose Moonfire NVR if…

  • Very efficient
  • Reliable 24/7 recording
Moonfire NVR details

Choose uStreamer if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (2k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
uStreamer details

Frequently asked questions

Is Moonfire NVR or uStreamer better?

uStreamer 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 uStreamer free and open-source?

Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and uStreamer under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Moonfire NVR and uStreamer with Docker?

Moonfire NVR: yes. uStreamer: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons