Motion 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?
Motion
Lightweight motion-detection video surveillance daemon
VS
OpenALPR
Automatic license plate recognition library
| Feature | Motion | OpenALPR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,030 | ★ 11,440 |
| First released | 2000 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | 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 Motion or OpenALPR better?
Neither is universally better. OpenALPR has the larger community, while Motion is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Motion and OpenALPR free and open-source?
Yes. Motion is licensed under GPL-2.0 and OpenALPR under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Motion and OpenALPR with Docker?
Motion: yes. OpenALPR: yes.