Motion vs RPi Cam Web Interface
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
RPi Cam Web Interface
Web-based control and streaming for the Raspberry Pi camera
| Feature | Motion | RPi Cam Web Interface |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,030 | ★ 1,599 |
| First released | 2000 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | Nest Cam |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Motion or RPi Cam Web Interface better?
Neither is universally better. Motion has the larger community, while RPi Cam Web Interface is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Motion and RPi Cam Web Interface free and open-source?
Yes. Motion is licensed under GPL-2.0 and RPi Cam Web Interface under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Motion and RPi Cam Web Interface with Docker?
Motion: yes. RPi Cam Web Interface: check the project docs for container support.