SHSelfHostIndex

motionEye vs Shinobi

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?
MO motionEye Web frontend for the Motion video surveillance program VS SH Shinobi Open-source NVR and CCTV software for IP cameras
FeaturemotionEyeShinobi
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4,651★ 4,000
First released20132017
ReplacesNest CamBlue Iris

Why pick each one

Choose motionEye if…

  • Easy to set up
  • Great for DIY builds
motionEye details

Choose Shinobi if…

  • Flexible camera support
  • Active community
Shinobi details

Frequently asked questions

Is motionEye or Shinobi better?

motionEye is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Shinobi if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are motionEye and Shinobi free and open-source?

Yes. motionEye is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Shinobi under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run motionEye and Shinobi with Docker?

motionEye: yes. Shinobi: yes.

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