Moonfire NVR vs ZoneMinder
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,746 | ★ 5,938 |
| First released | 2018 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
What are Moonfire NVR and ZoneMinder?
Moonfire NVR
Moonfire NVR is an open-source security camera network video recorder focused on efficient, continuous recording. Written in Rust, it stores video with minimal overhead and provides a simple web interface to review footage.
- Continuous always-on recording
- Efficient storage handling
- Web review interface
- Low resource footprint
ZoneMinder
ZoneMinder is a free, open-source, closed-circuit television software application for Linux that supports IP, USB, and analog cameras. It provides recording, monitoring, analysis, and a web-based control interface.
- IP, USB, and analog camera support
- Motion zones and analysis
- Event recording
- Web control interface
Moonfire NVR vs ZoneMinder: key differences
Moonfire NVR is written in Rust, while ZoneMinder is built with PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Moonfire NVR versus GPL-2.0 for ZoneMinder. Moonfire NVR is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for ZoneMinder. ZoneMinder is the more established project (first released 2002), while Moonfire NVR arrived in 2018. ZoneMinder has the considerably larger community, at 5,938 GitHub stars versus 1,746.
Why pick each one
Choose Moonfire NVR if…
- Very efficient
- Reliable 24/7 recording
Watch out for
- Limited motion analytics
- Smaller feature set
Choose ZoneMinder if…
- Very mature project
- Highly configurable
Watch out for
- Complex installation
- Dated interface
Frequently asked questions
Is Moonfire NVR or ZoneMinder better?
Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder 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 ZoneMinder free and open-source?
Yes. Moonfire NVR is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZoneMinder under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Moonfire NVR and ZoneMinder with Docker?
Moonfire NVR: yes. ZoneMinder: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Moonfire NVR or ZoneMinder?
Moonfire NVR has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for ZoneMinder. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.