OpenALPR vs zmNinja
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?
OpenALPR
Automatic license plate recognition library
VS
zmNinja
Cross-platform mobile and desktop client for ZoneMinder
| Feature | OpenALPR | zmNinja |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,440 | ★ 1,080 |
| First released | 2015 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Rekor Scout, Plate Recognizer | Commercial CCTV apps |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenALPR if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.4k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenALPR or zmNinja better?
Neither is universally better. OpenALPR has the larger community, while zmNinja is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenALPR and zmNinja free and open-source?
Yes. OpenALPR is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and zmNinja under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenALPR and zmNinja with Docker?
OpenALPR: yes. zmNinja: check the project docs for container support.