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Comparison · Infra & APIs
ZoneMinder vs ESPEasy
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ZoneMinder and ESPEasy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
ZoneMinder vs ESPEasy: at a glance
What is ZoneMinder?
ZoneMinder 1.38 finally split capturing from analysing — and added roles to a system that had none.
ZoneMinder runs two lines in parallel. The 1.38 series, opened in February, brought role-based access control, WebRTC, Go2RTC and RTSP2Web streaming with hardware acceleration, a redesigned monitor model splitting Capturing, Analysing and Recording into separate settings, ONVIF events, MQTT and event tagging. The legacy 1.36 branch is still receiving fixes, including a stored SQL injection through event name and cause fields. The 1.38.1 release replaced four vendor-specific ONVIF implementations with a single control module.
What is ESPEasy?
One release a year, each one a filesystem or networking rewrite you must plan for.
ESPEasy publishes rarely — five builds across two years — and each one accumulates hundreds of commits. The July 2026 mega build reworked how networking is handled and added support for Espressif's newer silicon: ESP32-P4, -C5 and C61. The 2025 build was the last to ship SPIFFS for ESP32, forcing a LittleFS conversion on everyone who upgrades past it. Release notes are raw commit lists grouped by contributor.
ZoneMinder vs ESPEasy: editorial side-by-side
ZoneMinder
0.0INFRA · APIS
ZoneMinder 1.38 finally split capturing from analysing — and added roles to a system that had none.
◆ Current state
ZoneMinder runs two lines in parallel. The 1.38 series, opened in February, brought role-based access control, WebRTC, Go2RTC and RTSP2Web streaming with hardware acceleration, a redesigned monitor model splitting Capturing, Analysing and Recording into separate settings, ONVIF events, MQTT and event tagging. The legacy 1.36 branch is still receiving fixes, including a stored SQL injection through event name and cause fields. The 1.38.1 release replaced four vendor-specific ONVIF implementations with a single control module.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is consolidating a decade of accumulated special cases: four ONVIF implementations become one, monitor function modes become independent toggles, and streaming moves onto standard components rather than bespoke paths. Meanwhile 1.36 keeps being patched for security and build compatibility, which means a substantial install base has not moved. Release engineering itself is visibly strained — 1.38.2 was abandoned mid-flight over a Debian packaging conflict.
◆ Prediction
Expect 1.38 patch releases to keep folding in security and memory-safety fixes while the 1.36 branch receives only vulnerability backports until it is retired. Whether the new streaming stack becomes the default rather than an option is not settled by these entries.
ESPEasy
3.8INFRA · APIS
One release a year, each one a filesystem or networking rewrite you must plan for.
◆ Current state
ESPEasy publishes rarely — five builds across two years — and each one accumulates hundreds of commits. The July 2026 mega build reworked how networking is handled and added support for Espressif's newer silicon: ESP32-P4, -C5 and C61. The 2025 build was the last to ship SPIFFS for ESP32, forcing a LittleFS conversion on everyone who upgrades past it. Release notes are raw commit lists grouped by contributor.
◆ Where it's heading
The project's pattern is long test cycles followed by a build that changes something foundational — filesystem, networking, MCU support — and asks users to back up settings before upgrading. Between those, only hotfixes appear. Development is heavily concentrated in one maintainer's commit stream, with the rest of the contributor list handling docs, build scripts and individual plugins.
◆ Prediction
Given the cadence, the next build is likely months out and shaped by whatever the current test-build issue accumulates; the newly added MCU families are the obvious place for follow-up plugin and peripheral work.
Alternatives to ZoneMinder and ESPEasy
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either ZoneMinder or ESPEasy.
werf
Three release channels at once as werf 3 takes shape beside a still-shipping 2.75.
Volatility
Volatility 3 caught up with Volatility 2, then started reorganising itself.
GLAuth
A small LDAP server that grew OpenTelemetry tracing, embedded plugins and RISC-V builds.
OctoPrint
OctoPrint 2.0 turns serial into one connector among several, and breaks plugins doing it.
CRI-O
Patch tags land monthly with release notes that itemize nothing.
See all ZoneMinder alternatives → · See all ESPEasy alternatives →
Recent activity from ZoneMinder and ESPEasy
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 16d agoESPEasymega-20260720 reworks networking and adds ESP32-P4, C5 and C61 support ⚡
- 1mo agoZoneMinder1.38.3 supersedes an abandoned 1.38.2 build
- 5mo agoZoneMinderStored SQL injection patched on the 1.36 branch
- 5mo agoZoneMinderOne ONVIF module replaces four vendor implementations
- 6mo agoZoneMinder1.38 adds RBAC, WebRTC, and splits monitor functions ⚡
- 6mo agoESPEasymega-20260121 hotfixes four issues from the 20260108 build
- 7mo agoESPEasymega-20260108 re-cuts the failed 20260107 build
- 7mo agoESPEasymega-20260107 lands eight months of accumulated work
- 7mo agoZoneMinderFFmpeg 8.0 build fixes on the legacy branch
- 10mo agoZoneMinderPath handling and Debian trixie build support
- 1y agoESPEasymega-20250430 is the last ESP32 build with SPIFFS ⚡
- 1y agoESPEasymega-20241222 adds MQTT TLS with loadable CA certificates
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ZoneMinder and ESPEasy?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ESPEasy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is ZoneMinder better than ESPEasy?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ESPEasy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to ZoneMinder?
Top ZoneMinder alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ZoneMinder alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/zoneminder for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ESPEasy?
Top ESPEasy alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ESPEasy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/espeasy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.