Motion vs RtspToWeb
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
RtspToWeb
Restream RTSP camera feeds to web browsers
| Feature | Motion | RtspToWeb |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,030 | ★ 1,689 |
| First released | 2000 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | go2rtc |
Why pick each one
Choose RtspToWeb if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Motion or RtspToWeb better?
Neither is universally better. Motion has the larger community, while RtspToWeb is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Motion and RtspToWeb free and open-source?
Yes. Motion is licensed under GPL-2.0 and RtspToWeb under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Motion and RtspToWeb with Docker?
Motion: yes. RtspToWeb: yes.