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Blue Iris vs iSpy
March 08, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
13★
Innovative Video security and Webcam software that allows to record both IP and analog cameras. Supports motion detection with customizable alerts. Allows remote viewing via mobile and web apps.
11★
Open Source Video Surveillance Software. iSpy is the worlds leading open source surveillance software for Windows PCs
Blue Iris and iSpy are, at their core, remarkably similar in that they both exist to watch things so that you don’t have to. They take your video feeds, poke them with metaphorical sticks and alert you when something presumably interesting happens—whether it’s a burglar, a raccoon or just your neighbor’s cat deciding that your car roof is now its throne. Both allow you to peer at your cameras remotely, set up recordings and even integrate with other unnecessarily complex smart home systems, ensuring that your toaster can now panic appropriately when a shadow crosses your driveway.
But while Blue Iris is a polished, paid piece of American surveillance enthusiasm (since 2003, no less), iSpy hails from the United Kingdom and has been lurking around since 2007 in a much more open-source, do-it-yourself sort of fashion. Blue Iris prefers its users to be serious about security, ideally running a dedicated PC that sounds like a jet engine due to all the processing it’s doing. It even throws in AI-based object recognition, meaning it might one day correctly identify that, no, the intruder is not an interdimensional space weasel but simply the mailman in a particularly unfortunate coat.
iSpy, on the other hand, leans toward a more lightweight, cloud-friendly existence, ensuring that even those who refuse to spend money on software can still enjoy the existential dread of seeing movement alerts at 3 AM. It’s a bit more flexible, happily running on anything from Windows to Linux, though its Agent DVR variant is now the one truly in charge. It’s for the sort of user who enjoys tinkering, optimizing and occasionally wondering why they just received an alert about a spider weaving its latest masterpiece directly in front of the camera lens.
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
But while Blue Iris is a polished, paid piece of American surveillance enthusiasm (since 2003, no less), iSpy hails from the United Kingdom and has been lurking around since 2007 in a much more open-source, do-it-yourself sort of fashion. Blue Iris prefers its users to be serious about security, ideally running a dedicated PC that sounds like a jet engine due to all the processing it’s doing. It even throws in AI-based object recognition, meaning it might one day correctly identify that, no, the intruder is not an interdimensional space weasel but simply the mailman in a particularly unfortunate coat.
iSpy, on the other hand, leans toward a more lightweight, cloud-friendly existence, ensuring that even those who refuse to spend money on software can still enjoy the existential dread of seeing movement alerts at 3 AM. It’s a bit more flexible, happily running on anything from Windows to Linux, though its Agent DVR variant is now the one truly in charge. It’s for the sort of user who enjoys tinkering, optimizing and occasionally wondering why they just received an alert about a spider weaving its latest masterpiece directly in front of the camera lens.
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
