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8 top picks · 2 audience rankings

Best open source NVR and video surveillance software

The best open source NVR is Frigate, with 36,390 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; Viseron and motionEye are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Frigate leads for small business and home use. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 8 apps in the video surveillance category of the appsgit catalog.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Frigate

    blakeblackshear/frigate

    Monitor your security cameras with locally processed AI.

    Video SurveillancePythonDocker

    AI-nativeFrigate has 36,390 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  2. Rank 2:

    Viseron

    roflcoopter/viseron

    Self-hosted, local-only NVR and AI Computer Vision software. With features such as object detection, motion detection, face recognition and more, it gives you the power to keep an eye on your home…

    Video SurveillancePythonDocker

    AI-nativeViseron has 3,569 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  3. Rank 3:

    motionEye

    motioneye-project/motioneye

    Online interface for the software Motion, a video surveillance program with motion detection.

    Video SurveillancePythonDocker

    motionEye has 4,694 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 377 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

1 of 3 · 8 picks

Top picks

8 of the 8 apps in the video surveillance category, ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Frigate

    Monitor your security cameras with locally processed AI.

    AI-nativeFrigate has 36,390 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  2. 2

    Viseron

    Self-hosted, local-only NVR and AI Computer Vision software. With features such as object detection, motion detection, face recognition and more, it gives you the power to keep an eye on your home…

    AI-nativeViseron has 3,569 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  3. 3

    motionEye

    Online interface for the software Motion, a video surveillance program with motion detection.

    motionEye has 4,694 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 377 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  4. 4

    Zoneminder

    Closed-circuit television (CCTV) software application which supports IP, USB and Analog cameras.

    Zoneminder has 5,941 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 3,316 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  5. 5

    Scrypted

    Home video integration platform that connects cameras to HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa.

    Scrypted has 6,000 GitHub stars, uses a license appsgit could not verify, ships a Docker image and had 274 commits in the last year.

  6. 6

    Secluso

    Private DIY home security camera system for Raspberry Pi, with end-to-end encrypted remote access and mobile apps for live video, alerts, and recording playback.

    AI-nativeSecluso has 1,678 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 145 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

  7. 7

    Strix

    Auto-discovers working stream URLs for IP cameras and generates ready-to-use Frigate and go2rtc configs.

    Strix has 895 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 125 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    Bluecherry

    Closed-circuit television (CCTV) software application which supports IP and Analog cameras.

    Bluecherry has 275 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 51 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring.

2 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for small business

Ranked for small business on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides.

  1. 1

    Frigate

    Monitor your security cameras with locally processed AI.

    AI-nativeFrigate has 36,390 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    Viseron

    Self-hosted, local-only NVR and AI Computer Vision software. With features such as object detection, motion detection, face recognition and more, it gives you the power to keep an eye on your home…

    AI-nativeViseron has 3,569 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    motionEye

    Online interface for the software Motion, a video surveillance program with motion detection.

    motionEye has 4,694 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 377 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Zoneminder

    Closed-circuit television (CCTV) software application which supports IP, USB and Analog cameras.

    Zoneminder has 5,941 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 3,316 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For small business it also scores on an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Scrypted

    Home video integration platform that connects cameras to HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa.

    Scrypted has 6,000 GitHub stars, uses a license appsgit could not verify, ships a Docker image and had 274 commits in the last year. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

3 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for home use

Ranked for home use on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Frigate

    Monitor your security cameras with locally processed AI.

    AI-nativeFrigate has 36,390 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,445 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For home use it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    motionEye

    Online interface for the software Motion, a video surveillance program with motion detection.

    motionEye has 4,694 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 377 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For home use it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Viseron

    Self-hosted, local-only NVR and AI Computer Vision software. With features such as object detection, motion detection, face recognition and more, it gives you the power to keep an eye on your home…

    AI-nativeViseron has 3,569 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,095 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For home use it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Scrypted

    Home video integration platform that connects cameras to HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa.

    Scrypted has 6,000 GitHub stars, uses a license appsgit could not verify, ships a Docker image and had 274 commits in the last year. For home use it also scores on a Docker image and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Zoneminder

    Closed-circuit television (CCTV) software application which supports IP, USB and Analog cameras.

    Zoneminder has 5,941 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 3,316 commits in the last year; it replaces Ring. For home use it also scores on an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source NVR?

The best open source NVR is Frigate, with 36,390 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; Viseron and motionEye are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Frigate leads for small business and home use. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 8 apps in the video surveillance category of the appsgit catalog.

Is Frigate free?

Yes. Frigate is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Which open source NVR is best for a small business?

Frigate ranks first for small business, with 36,390 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; Viseron and motionEye follow. The small business ranking adds points for Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides on top of stars and activity.

Which open source NVR is best for home use?

Frigate ranks first for home use, with 36,390 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; motionEye and Viseron follow. The home use ranking adds points for Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Can I self-host these NVR and video surveillance software with Docker?

Yes, 5 of the 8 picks. Frigate, Viseron and motionEye publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose. The others install from their own packages or source; follow each project's install guide.

Are all of these NVR and video surveillance software open source?

7 of the 8 apps on this list are open source; 1 has a license appsgit could not verify. Source-available licenses add conditions, such as limits on hosted or commercial use, so read them before you deploy.

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