What is ZoneMinder used for?

ZoneMinder is free, open-source CCTV software for Linux that captures, analyzes, records and monitors IP, USB and analog cameras. It is a good fit for home or small business video surveillance and recording from multiple IP cameras.

Is ZoneMinder open source?

Yes. ZoneMinder is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ZoneMinder/zoneminder and is written mainly in PHP.

Yes. ZoneMinder is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host ZoneMinder?

Yes. ZoneMinder can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is ZoneMinder an alternative to?

ZoneMinder is an open-source alternative to Alarm.com. Other open-source alternatives to Alarm.com include Frigate, Viseron and Clearcam.

Is ZoneMinder actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to ZoneMinder was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.38.4, published on 11 August 2026. The project has 5.9k stars on GitHub.

ZoneMinder: open-source alternative to Alarm.com

About ZoneMinder

ZoneMinder is closed-circuit television (CCTV) software for Linux that is free and open source. It is an integrated set of applications that provides a surveillance solution for capturing, analyzing, recording and monitoring CCTV or security cameras attached to a Linux machine.

It is designed for distributions that support the Video For Linux interface, has been tested with cameras connected to BTTV cards and various USB cameras, and supports most IP network cameras. Repository topics mention H.264 and H.265, and a distributed, scalable design. All documentation is hosted online on Read the Docs.

ZoneMinder is written in PHP and licensed under GPL-2.0. The README recommends installing from a package repository, with packages maintained for Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL and CentOS clones, Fedora, openSUSE, Mageia, Arch and Gentoo, and it discourages building from source. The Dockerfile now lives in a separate zmdockerfiles repository.

Key features

Capture and recording from IP, USB and analog cameras
Analysis and monitoring of CCTV feeds
Video For Linux support
H.264 and H.265 video
Packages for major Linux distributions

Good fit for

→Home or small business video surveillance
→Recording from multiple IP cameras

Built with: PHP
Tags: cctv; surveillance; video; nvr; ip-cameras; linux; php; self-hosted

ZoneMinder: questions and answers

What is ZoneMinder used for?: ZoneMinder is free, open-source CCTV software for Linux that captures, analyzes, records and monitors IP, USB and analog cameras. It is a good fit for home or small business video surveillance and recording from multiple IP cameras.
Is ZoneMinder open source?: Yes. ZoneMinder is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ZoneMinder/zoneminder and is written mainly in PHP.
Is ZoneMinder free?: Yes. ZoneMinder is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host ZoneMinder?: Yes. ZoneMinder can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is ZoneMinder an alternative to?: ZoneMinder is an open-source alternative to Alarm.com. Other open-source alternatives to Alarm.com include Frigate, Viseron and Clearcam.
Is ZoneMinder actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to ZoneMinder was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.38.4, published on 11 August 2026. The project has 5.9k stars on GitHub.