Video surveillance software & cameras, tested on a real bench
Surveilbench compares self-hosted VMS/NVR software and consumer camera ecosystems against criteria we publish and physical hardware we actually own — not marketing claims.
How the main VMS compare
Every product below is scored on the same criteria — the ones that decide how private and how independent your surveillance really is. A✓ means the feature is available out of the box, ✗means it is not, and — means we haven't verified it yet. Click a product for the detailed review and sources.
| Criterion | Noviscan | Frigate NVR | Blue Iris | ZoneMinder | Shinobi | Scrypted | Synology Surveillance Station | UniFi Protect | Milestone XProtect | Agent DVR | Viseron | Xeoma | Nx Witness | Genetec Security Center | Avigilon Unity | ExacqVision | Wisenet WAVE | Digifort | Luxriot EVO | AXIS Camera Station Pro | motionEye | Kerberos.io Agent | Moonfire NVR | Sighthound Video | SecuritySpy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source (auditable code) | no | yes | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Self-hosted (runs on your hardware) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Works without a mandatory vendor account | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Works with any ONVIF/RTSP camera (no hardware lock-in) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Built-in facial recognition | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | no | no | not verified | no | no | no |
| Encrypts stored footage at rest | yes | no | no | no | no | not verified | yes | not verified | yes | not verified | not verified | not verified | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | not verified | not verified | no | yes | no | not verified | not verified |
| Remote access without a vendor cloud | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Web + desktop + mobile apps | yes | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | not verified | yes | yes | no | no | no | not verified | yes |
Manufacturer cloud ecosystems (Ezviz, Imou…)
These aren't self-hosted VMS — they're the camera maker's own app and cloud. They're the easiest option out of the box, but scored on the same criteria they show why "convenient" and "private & independent" pull in opposite directions.
| Criterion | EZVIZ (appli & cloud) | Imou (appli & cloud) | Google Nest (appli & cloud) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source (auditable code) | no | no | no |
| Self-hosted (runs on your hardware) | no | no | no |
| Works without a mandatory vendor account | no | no | no |
| Works with any ONVIF/RTSP camera (no hardware lock-in) | no | no | no |
| Built-in facial recognition | no | no | yes |
| Encrypts stored footage at rest | yes | yes | yes |
| Remote access without a vendor cloud | no | no | no |
| Web + desktop + mobile apps | yes | no | yes |
Camera brands & local access
Camera brands are scored on different axes: can you get the footage off the camera on your own terms? The key column is a local RTSP/ONVIF stream — that's what lets a brand work with any VMS (Noviscan included) instead of only the maker's app. Some budget brands (Ring, Blink, Wyze) are closed and can't be self-hosted at all.
| Criterion | Reolink | Aqara | Amcrest | TP-Link VIGI | Annke | Hikvision (Hik-Connect) | Lorex | Google Nest | Ring | Blink | Wyze | Dahua (marque propre) | SwitchBot | Xiaomi / Mi Home | YI / Kami |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local RTSP/ONVIF stream (works with third-party software) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | no | no |
| Local use without a mandatory vendor account | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no | no |
| Local recording without a cloud subscription (microSD/NVR) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Facial recognition available | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes |
How to read this. Surveilbench is published by Secufor, the publisher of Noviscan — so read it as a transparent comparison by a competitor, not an independent lab. Noviscan scores well here because these criteria are the privacy/independence features it was built around; they arenot the only axes that matter. On criteria we did not put in the main table, Noviscan does not lead: it is not open source(Frigate and ZoneMinder are), it is commercial andyounger than long-established VMS, and — being our own product — its review is first-party sourced. If those matter most to you, the open-source options lead, not Noviscan.
The criteria are public and every fact about a third-party product is sourced and dated; see our methodology. Only products we have actually run carry a "tested" verdict; the rest are documented from dated sources and marked "not yet benchmarked" until we test them.