A free Synology Surveillance Station alternative
Surveillance Station comes with two free camera licenses on a Synology NAS, and its AI analytics run on Synology’s DVA series recorders. Litmus NVR is free with no camera limit, and its AI search runs on the computer you install it on.
At a glance
| Synology Surveillance Station | Litmus NVR | |
|---|---|---|
| Camera licenses | 2 free on a Synology NAS, 4 on an NVR, 8 on a DVA series NVR. More cameras need license packs (1, 4 or 8) bought once from resellers | Free, no camera limit |
| Runs on | Synology NAS and Synology NVRs | Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Docker, Home Assistant add-on |
| AI analytics | People and vehicle detection, face recognition and license plate recognition (select countries) on DVA series NVRs only | Built in on every supported computer: people, faces, vehicles and license plates |
| Apps | Web browser, desktop client for Windows and macOS, DS cam for iOS and Android | Android and iOS, plus any web browser |
| Remote access | QuickConnect | Encrypted peer-to-peer connection, no port forwarding |
Surveillance Station details are from synology.com as of November 2026. Synology does not list license pack prices on its own site.
What Litmus does differently
- Every person and vehicle becomes a card. Litmus detects people and vehicles as it records and turns each one into a card, so you browse who was there instead of scrubbing a timeline.
- Follow someone across cameras. Open a card to play that person’s scenes from every camera in time order.
- Four ways to search. By appearance (clothing and build), by face with no enrollment, by a description such as “a person in a yellow shirt”, or by attributes like clothing color, bag, hat and age group. Vehicles can be searched by license plate, and a partial plate works.
- Works locally, no sign-up. On your network, open it in a browser without a Litmus account.
- Remote viewing without port forwarding. Add the device to your Litmus account, and the phone app and browser connect over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection, which works on most home and office routers.
- Video stays on your hardware. Recordings and analysis are stored on the computer running Litmus, not in the cloud.
When Surveillance Station may be the better fit
- You already have a Synology NAS and two cameras. The two free licenses cover them, and there is nothing else to install.
- You want an all-in-one recorder. A DVA series NVR ships with analytics such as intrusion detection and people counting.
Running Litmus next to your Synology NAS
Litmus connects to cameras over RTSP or ONVIF, so you can try it on another computer while Surveillance Station keeps recording, as long as each camera accepts a second connection.
If your NAS runs Docker, you can also run Litmus in a container on it. How many cameras it handles depends on the NAS processor. Litmus records to a drive in the computer it runs on: a network drive such as a NAS shared folder cannot be its storage folder.
Questions
Is Litmus NVR really free?
Yes. Every feature is free with no camera limit. Live View over a direct connection is unlimited.
Does my video go to the cloud?
Recordings and AI analysis stay on the computer running Litmus. Where a network blocks direct connections, encrypted video passes through our relay server without being stored. Alert photos are kept in cloud storage.
What hardware does Litmus need?
An Intel N100 mini PC handles 1 to 2 cameras, a 12th-gen Core i5 5 to 6, a 12th-gen Core i7 9 to 10, and an Apple M2 Mac 12 to 14. A Raspberry Pi 5 handles 1 to 2. A graphics card lets the same PC handle more cameras. These are for 1080p cameras at the default 10 analyses per second. The Apple M2 count is measured. The PC counts are estimates based on CPU performance.