Moonfire NVR vs Viseron
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
Viseron
Self-hosted NVR with local AI object detection
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | Viseron |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,731 | ★ 3,334 |
| First released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Nest Cam, Blue Iris |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Moonfire NVR or Viseron better?
Neither is universally better. Viseron has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Moonfire NVR and Viseron free and open-source?
Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Viseron under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Moonfire NVR and Viseron with Docker?
Moonfire NVR: yes. Viseron: yes.