motionEye vs ZoneMinder Event Notification Server

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?
FeaturemotionEyeZoneMinder Event Notification Server
CategoryVideo SurveillanceVideo Surveillance
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePythonPerl
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,651★ 423
First released20132016
ReplacesNest CamCloud camera alert services

Why pick each one

Choose motionEye if…

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

Choose ZoneMinder Event Notification Server if…

  • Adds AI to ZoneMinder
  • Local processing
ZoneMinder Event Notification Server details

Frequently asked questions

Is motionEye or ZoneMinder Event Notification Server better?

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

Are motionEye and ZoneMinder Event Notification Server free and open-source?

Yes. motionEye is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZoneMinder Event Notification Server under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run motionEye and ZoneMinder Event Notification Server with Docker?

motionEye: yes. ZoneMinder Event Notification Server: check the project docs for container support.

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