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Shinobi vs ZoneMinder
March 09, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
9★
Shinobi is Open Source, written in Node.js, and real easy to use. It is the future of CCTV and NVR for developers and end-users alike. It is catered to by professionals and most importantly by the one who created it.
13★
Full-featured, open source, state-of-the-art video surveillance software system. Monitor your office using off the shelf hardware with any camera, you can design a system as large or as small as you need. Supports motion detection and event-triggered recording.
The universe is a vast and mysterious place, filled with endless questions. Some of these questions concern the meaning of life, the nature of time and whether a sufficiently paranoid individual can turn a collection of cheap IP cameras into an all-seeing security system. Enter Shinobi and ZoneMinder, two open-source solutions for those who believe the best way to prepare for an uncertain future is to record absolutely everything that moves. Both let you monitor, detect motion and configure things via a web interface, meaning you can sit in your dressing gown with a cup of tea and pretend to be in charge of a vast and complex surveillance empire, even if all you’re really watching is a very bored cat in the living room.
Shinobi, being the newer of the two, has the advantage of modernity, which is a polite way of saying it isn’t burdened by decades of code written by people who have since mysteriously vanished into the void. Released in 2016 and hailing from Japan, it’s built on a sleek combination of Node.js and Python, which makes it feel faster and more flexible—at least until you realize that a sufficiently determined router firmware update can still ruin your day. It also boasts a more polished UI, meaning it’s better suited to people who like their interfaces to look like they were designed by someone who understands the concept of joy.
ZoneMinder, by contrast, is the wise old sage of the self-hosted surveillance world, which is another way of saying it’s been around since 2002 and has all the charm of an elderly Unix administrator who doesn’t believe in unnecessary things like "user-friendliness." Originating from the United States, it was built using PHP and Perl, presumably by people who wanted to ensure that future generations would suffer as they did. While it offers deep customization and rock-solid reliability for those willing to learn its arcane ways, it remains best suited for users who enjoy spending their weekends debugging ancient forum posts and muttering phrases like, "Why is this even in Perl?"
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
Shinobi, being the newer of the two, has the advantage of modernity, which is a polite way of saying it isn’t burdened by decades of code written by people who have since mysteriously vanished into the void. Released in 2016 and hailing from Japan, it’s built on a sleek combination of Node.js and Python, which makes it feel faster and more flexible—at least until you realize that a sufficiently determined router firmware update can still ruin your day. It also boasts a more polished UI, meaning it’s better suited to people who like their interfaces to look like they were designed by someone who understands the concept of joy.
ZoneMinder, by contrast, is the wise old sage of the self-hosted surveillance world, which is another way of saying it’s been around since 2002 and has all the charm of an elderly Unix administrator who doesn’t believe in unnecessary things like "user-friendliness." Originating from the United States, it was built using PHP and Perl, presumably by people who wanted to ensure that future generations would suffer as they did. While it offers deep customization and rock-solid reliability for those willing to learn its arcane ways, it remains best suited for users who enjoy spending their weekends debugging ancient forum posts and muttering phrases like, "Why is this even in Perl?"
See also: Top 10 Video Surveillance Systems
