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.
Not the right match-up?
Moonfire NVR
Lightweight always-recording network video recorder
VS
ZoneMinder
Full-featured closed-circuit television software suite
| Feature | Moonfire NVR | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 1,731 | ★ 5,899 |
| First released | 2018 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Blue Iris | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
Why pick each one
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.