CameraView vs ZoneMinder
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?
CameraView
Android library for camera capture and streaming apps
VS
ZoneMinder
Full-featured closed-circuit television software suite
| Feature | CameraView | ZoneMinder |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,128 | ★ 5,899 |
| First released | 2016 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Proprietary camera SDKs | Blue Iris, Milestone XProtect |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is CameraView or ZoneMinder better?
Neither is universally better. ZoneMinder has the larger community, while CameraView is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are CameraView and ZoneMinder free and open-source?
Yes. CameraView is licensed under MIT and ZoneMinder under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CameraView and ZoneMinder with Docker?
CameraView: check the project docs for container support. ZoneMinder: yes.