Stonewatch and Blue Iris side by side
Stonewatch and Blue Iris both record IP cameras to your own drive with built-in detection. Stonewatch adds Linux and Mac, includes every v1.x update, and restarts itself if anything goes wrong.
| Features | Stonewatch | Blue Iris |
|---|---|---|
| Recorder runs on | Linux, Windows, macOS on Apple Silicon | 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 |
| Price | USD 99 once, after a 30-day free trial | USD 99.95 once, after a 15-day evaluation |
| Updates and maintenance | All v1.x updates included | One year of maintenance included, then USD 44.95 a year |
| Recovers from a crash on its own | Yes, by default on every platform | When set up to run as a Windows service |
| Object detection | Built in, local. CPU, OpenVINO, CUDA, Core ML | Built in since version 6.0.1 |
| Camera limit | No limit beyond your hardware | Up to 128 |
| Viewing | Apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and Android | Blue Iris on the PC, a browser, and iPhone and Android apps |
| Remote viewing | From anywhere over Tailscale, which needs no ports opened on your router, or another VPN | Built-in web server |
Why people look for a Blue Iris alternative
Blue Iris users on the IPCamTalk forum post threads titled "Blue Iris Constantly Crashing" and "Update 6.0.3.6 broken", roll back to earlier versions after updates, and report Blue Iris failing to load after a Windows 11 update. A forum regular there says Blue Iris "is unfortunately prone to crashing." The standard advice, on IPCamTalk and in an Amcrest support article, is to run Blue Iris as a Windows service so that it restarts after a crash.
What Stonewatch does differently
- If the recorder ever stops, the operating system restarts it automatically.
- Detection picks its hardware automatically: NVIDIA CUDA, Intel OpenVINO, Apple Core ML, or the CPU.
- The same Stonewatch Viewer runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and Android.
A Blue Iris alternative for Linux and Mac
Blue Iris requires 64-bit Windows, so it has no Linux or Mac version. Stonewatch installs as a native service on Linux (x86-64 and ARM64, without Docker) and on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later. See Blue Iris for Linux and Blue Iris for Mac.
Common questions
Will my cameras work with Stonewatch?
They will. Stonewatch records any IP camera that sends H.264 or H.265 video over RTSP. It finds ONVIF cameras on your network automatically, and you can add any other camera by its stream URL.
Is AI detection built in?
It is. Detection runs inside Stonewatch and picks NVIDIA CUDA, Intel OpenVINO, Apple Core ML, or the CPU automatically, based on what the computer has.
Does Stonewatch restart itself if something goes wrong?
Automatically, on every platform. The recorder runs as a system service on Windows, Linux, and macOS. If the recorder ever stops, the operating system restarts it automatically.
Can I watch from my phone away from home?
The Stonewatch Viewer app runs on iPhone and Android, with live view, recordings, and events, and connects from anywhere over Tailscale or another VPN.
Stonewatch pricing and availability
Each machine gets a 30-day free trial of the full product, with no card and no account. After that, the Home license is USD 99 before tax, paid once, for one machine. There is no subscription or renewal fee, and all v1.x updates are included.
Home has no camera limit beyond what your hardware can handle. The recordings you make during the trial stay yours to play back and export.
BETA WAITLIST
Local detection that restarts itself, on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Join the Stonewatch waitlist and we'll email you when the beta opens.
No payment required. One beta announcement. See our privacy policy.